Why is Ethena up 20% today?

Ethena has been ripping higher all day, continuing its weeks-long climb as fresh capital pours in from whales and institutions.

Trading around $0.5847 at press time, ENA (ENA) is up roughly 22% over the past 24 hours. The double-digit surge brings its weekly gain to about 45%, and it’s now up 118% over the past month. 

Daily trading volume has jumped 58%, according to CoinGecko, positioning the token as the day’s top performer by a wide margin.

The uptick in price comes as whale accumulation ramps up. Per Lookonchain data, former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes bought approximately 2.16 million ENA earlier today, worth around $1.03 million, across various platforms. 

Hayes’ current ENA position stands at 7.76 million tokens, valued at about $3.73 million, adding to the broader major accumulation trend among large holders.

But beyond the large-scale investments, another key driver of Ethena’s gains is fresh institutional momentum. 

Daily $5 million treasury bid boosts ENA

StablecoinX, a newly listed Nasdaq firm, has recently begun executing its ENA-tied treasury strategy, which involves buying $5 million worth of the tokens per day for the next six weeks. 

The plan is part of a $260 million allocation, pulled from a broader $360 million capital raise finalized earlier this month, and is expected to take out nearly 8% of ENA’s circulating supply by the end of the program, per figures from Ethena Labs.

The steady daily buys are keeping strong upward pressure on ENA’s price. Meanwhile, broader sentiment is turning more bullish as the ecosystem grows through new partnerships and listings. According to DeFi Llama, total value locked (TVL) on Ethena has climbed above $7.19 billion, reinforcing its position among top Ethereum-based stablecoin protocols.

While the token still sits roughly 53% below its all-time high of $1.24, bullish sentiment is building and fueling optimism for a sustained breakout.