Halal Bourse

Home › Crypto › Ethena USDe

Is Ethena USDe (USDE) halal?

Questionable

No condition fails, but 6 points remain to be verified or fall under a tolerated case.

Verdict calculated by Halal Bourse's published rules from an investigation of primary sources (project documentation, registers, decisions), conducted on 10/07/2026 and not reviewed by a human.

Open the evidence file

The asset

synthetic dollar (stablecoin backed by crypto and short derivatives positions) Issuer: Ethena BVI Limited (British Virgin Islands) according to the USDe terms; protocol of Ethena Labs; its German subsidiary Ethena GmbH was wound up on BaFin's order in 2025.

ERC-20 token (Ethereum contract 0x4c9EDD5852cd905f086C759E8383e09bff1E68B3) that targets 1 USD, backed by spot crypto, stablecoins and short derivatives hedging positions. About 4.98 billion tokens on October 7, 2026 according to DefiLlama, of which 2.73 billion on Ethereum; price of 0.9997 USD (CoinGecko).

Why this verdict

  1. Permissible purpose : to be verified or tolerated case. USDe serves as a synthetic dollar, notably as collateral and as a medium of exchange in DeFi; its purpose depends on what it represents: under the terms, not a claim on the issuer but a store of value backed by spot crypto and short derivatives positions.
    • « USDe issued by Ethena BVI is a form of stored value or prepaid access and does not represent a claim, participation interest, economic right » Ethena (USDe terms, updated in August 2025) (2025-08)
    • « USDe is a synthetic dollar, backed with crypto assets and corresponding short futures positions. » Ethena (documentation) (2026-10-07)
  2. No riba : to be verified or tolerated case. Under the terms, the USDe holder receives no interest, but the protocol earns revenue from funding rates on short derivatives positions, from over-collateralized loans (DeFi and institutional), from tokenized government securities and from stablecoins, and allocates it to rewards, including sUSDe (4.75% on September 30, 2026 according to Ethena): the source of the yield is partly loan yield.
    • « you acknowledge that you are not entitled to any interest or other returns earned on such funds as either a Holding User or Mint User » Ethena (USDe terms, updated in August 2025) (2025-08)
    • « Revenue earned on the backing of USDe is utilized in promotional and incentive programs, including sUSDe » Ethena (documentation) (2026-10-07)
  3. No gambling : to be verified or tolerated case. The spot purchase is of a transferable token (47,704 holding addresses on Ethereum on October 7, 2026); the holder does not bet on a price difference themselves, but stability rests on short derivatives positions opened by the protocol against its crypto, whose income is the funding rate paid by leveraged buyers.
    • « Volatile assets, such as spot crypto, tokenized equities, and tokenised commodities, are paired with corresponding short futures positions in approximately the same notional size » Ethena (documentation) (2026-10-07)
    • « In this process, the protocol aims to collect the funding rate. » Ethena (documentation) (2026-10-07)
  4. No excessive gharar : to be verified or tolerated case. Privileged roles, the 7-signature multisig and risks are documented, and the custodians attest every month to the existence and value of the assets (this is not an audit of the accounts); 0% of revenue goes to the reserve fund; the real-time composition could not be read; S&P Global Ratings rates stability 5 (“weak”).
    • « The percentage of revenue allocated to the Reserve Fund is currently 0%, with 100% being directed to incentive rewards, promotional distributions, and distribution incentives. » Ethena (documentation) (2026-10-07)
    • « Monthly attestations are completed with the custodians to validate the existence, control, and value of the backing assets of USDe. » Ethena (documentation) (2026-10-07)
  5. Real ownership : to be verified or tolerated case. USDe is held in a personal wallet and the contract contains no freeze or pause; but an ordinary holder has no right to redeem with Ethena: exit depends on the market and on authorized market makers, and guardians can suspend minting and redemption.
  6. No fraud or manipulation : to be verified or tolerated case. On March 21, 2025, BaFin prohibited the offering of USDe by Ethena GmbH (Frankfurt), had the reserve frozen at the custodians, then ordered the winding-up of that subsidiary; in June 2025, it flagged a suspected public offering of sUSDe without a prospectus by Ethena (BVI) Ltd., the issuing entity. These measures concern authorization and the prospectus, not an established deception of buyers.
    • « BaFin has prohibited Ethena GmbH from continuing to offer its USDe token to the public » BaFin (press release) (2025-03-21)
    • « On 25 June 2025, BaFin issued instructions to Ethena GmbH to wind up business. » BaFin (press release) (2025-06-25)

Contract security scan

GoPlus security scan of the USDe contract on Ethereum: 48,967 holders; top ten wallets excluding exchanges and contracts 12.1%; code published. Signals noted: Minting right: the supply can be increased by the contract owner (is_mintable). Reading (rule A.8): a single scan signal, minting reserved to the owner; according to the code read on Blockscout, the owner only designates the single minting address (Ethena's mint contract), and according to the documentation minters create USDe only in exchange for assets, within 5% of the oracles; the contract is not upgradeable, with no freeze or pause, code published, top ten wallets excluding exchanges at 12.1%. The issuer is identified but is not a regulated issuer: BaFin has taken measures (see c6).

Opinions found during the research

Opinions reported as read, named for what they are; they do not enter into the calculation of the verdict.

What could not be verified

Sources read

Other cryptos analyzed

General information: neither investment advice nor a fatwa. Verdict calculated by published rules, from financial statements read automatically and not reviewed by a human. Read the methodology