Ethena has launched the beta of Ethena Pay, a self-custodial iOS money app that uses Avalanche as its exclusive settlement layer and gives USDe a direct route into consumer payments.
Ethena said the initial early-access list contains 400 users and will expand weekly as the product moves out of beta during September. Its supported-country page lists 49 countries across Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. The U.S., European Union, U.K. and Canada are among the regions marked as coming later.
Ethena Pay combines a self-custodial wallet with transfers, fiat onramps and a Visa card. Ethena Pay Ltd. says it supplies the software rather than banking or custody services; wallet keys remain on the user’s device and cannot be recovered by the company. The card is issued by Puerto Rico-chartered Third National and managed by Rain, and is available only to non-U.S. persons.
Ava Labs said digital-dollar balances in the app are held in USDe, with Avalanche handling transfers, payments and settlement behind the interface. That gives Ethena a consumer distribution channel in which USDe can be held, sent and spent without users selecting a blockchain network.
Ethena Pay’s pricing terms say the advertised rate of up to 6% per year is a total made up of the prevailing underlying USDe rate plus a “Daily Boost” contributed by Ethena Pay. It is not an additional 6% on top of the base rate.
