Ethena-Backed DEX Terminal Finance Reaches $280M in Pre-Launch Deposits

Terminal Finance, a decentralized exchange (DEX) incubated by Ethena Labs, has gathered more than $280 million in total value locked (TVL) ahead of its upcoming launch at the tail end of this year, according to DefiLlama.

The pre-deposit phase spanned three capped vaults holding 225 million USDe, 10,000 ether ETH$3,091.58, and 100 bitcoin BTC$90,365.94. Data from DeFiLlama shows the vaults have reached full capacity.

Terminal is positioning itself as the main DEX for the Ethena ecosystem, which centers on USDe, Ethena’s synthetic dollar, and sUSDe, its yield-bearing version. The platform will also support trading against USDtb, a token backed by BlackRock’s BUIDL fund.

Decentralized exchanges have become a focal point of the recent bull market, with the emergence of platforms like HyperLiquid beginning to take market share away from centralized exchanges like Binance and Coinbase.

Terminal will offer spot trading pairs between these stablecoins and major crypto assets like ETH and BTC. The exchange is designed to route yield from interest-bearing assets back into its liquidity pools through a mechanism called “yield Skimming,” which redistributes returns to participants in the system.

“Terminal is designed around a yield-bearing dollar, which we believe improves liquidity efficiency and market depth,” Sam Benyakoub, co-founder and CEO of Terminal Finance, said in a press release.

More than 10,000 wallets took part in the pre-deposit stage. Early participants will be eligible for token rewards tied to Terminal’s upcoming token generation event (TGE), expected to occur around the time of the DEX’s launch.

According to Ethena, up to 10% of Terminal’s governance token supply could go to sENA holders based on points earned since June 28.

“Ethena assets have become a major component of DeFi liquidity,” said Nick Chong, head of strategy at Ethena. “Terminal’s integration of sUSDe builds on that foundation.”