Ethena has launched a global money app built around its USDe synthetic dollar, extending the crypto-native asset into everyday payments, savings and cross-border transfers.

According to Tuesday's announcement, the self-custodial Ethena Pay app allows users to hold USDe via a dollar-denominated balance, earn up to 6% in annualized rewards, and spend funds through a payment card, while also supporting fiat onramps.

The beta rollout covers 48 countries across Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and other regions, though the initial launch is limited to 400 users, with access set to expand weekly, Ethena said in a Tuesday thread on X. Avalanche will serve as the exclusive settlement layer for payments and transfers.

Users can deposit either fiat or crypto, with funds converted into USDe (USDe). The app supports IBAN details for moving money to and from external bank accounts into local currencies. MoonPay-owned Iron provides the backend infrastructure.

Ethena Pay is not initially available in the US, EU, Canada, Taiwan or South Korea, though Ethena expects to expand into those markets during the beta, subject to regulatory approval.

The launch puts Ethena in the growing race among stablecoin issuers and payment-focused crypto firms to move beyond trading and DeFi into mainstream consumer payments, a segment where dollar-pegged assets already move tens of billions of dollars in daily settlement value. The app's focus on Latin America, Africa and other emerging markets mirrors a broader industry pattern of targeting regions with high remittance volumes and volatile local currencies.

Ethena's USDe grows as ENA rallies

Ethena is an Ethereum-based protocol behind USDe, a synthetic dollar designed to maintain its value near $1 without relying on traditional banking infrastructure. USDe uses crypto collateral alongside hedging strategies, including derivatives positions, to help maintain its peg, according to the protocol's documentation.

The asset has grown to a market capitalization of about $4.1 billion, making it the sixth-largest stablecoin, according to DefiLlama data.

Ethena also operates ENA, the protocol's governance token, which has a market capitalization of roughly $1.5 billion. The token has rallied sharply over the past month, gaining about 68%, but remains well below its previous highs.

On Friday, the Ethena Foundation proposed directing 95% of the net revenue it receives from Ethena's core businesses toward ENA buybacks once USDe's circulating supply reaches $7.5 billion. ENA rose more than 10% following the proposal and gained 27% over the week.

The token recorded about $595 million in trading volume over the past 24 hours, up 16% from the previous day, and was trading around $0.16 on Tuesday, according to CoinGecko.