Ethena’s Shocking Exit From Germany: Why It All Went Wrong

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Well, well, well. Just when you thought crypto was settling down, here comes a plot twist! In a move that’s got everyone scratching their heads, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Ethena Labs has announced, via its oh-so-formal X account, that it’s saying “Tschüss!” to Germany. Yep, you read that right. The firm has reached a deal with the German financial watchdog BaFin to completely pack up and leave the country. And if that’s not shocking enough, they’re also yanking their MiCAR application out of Germany. Oh, what a ride.

Ethena Labs Bids Farewell to Germany: What’s Going On?

So, apparently, Ethena Labs has decided to end its German escapade. They’ve reached a *diplomatic* agreement with BaFin to pull the plug on Ethena GmbH’s operations in the country. Oh, and guess what? The MiCAR authorization they were so excited about? Yeah, they’re totally giving up on that too. In a tweet (because of course), the company shared the news, and I quote:

“We have agreed with BaFin to wind down all activities of Ethena GmbH and will no longer be pursuing the MiCAR authorization in Germany.”

What Exactly Made Ethena Pack Its Bags?

The plot thickens. Apparently, Ethena wasn’t having the smoothest of sailing in Germany. In March 2025, the German regulators (BaFin, for those keeping track) threw a little tantrum and told Ethena to stop selling its USDe token to the public. The reason? MiCAR compliance issues. Imagine getting a letter from a regulator saying, “Nope, not today!”

In their defense (kind of), Ethena fired back in their announcement, saying all minting and redemption activities for USDe have been handled by their British Virgin Islands entity (because who doesn’t love a good offshore account, right?). According to them, “Ethena GmbH hasn’t minted or redeemed anything since March 21, 2025. It’s all been handled by Ethena (BVI) Limited, no biggie.” Sounds like someone’s avoiding the drama. 🙄

This exit happens just as Europe is throwing a party to promote crypto growth, with Europe positioning itself as the leader in crypto banking (take that, America!). But clearly, Ethena didn’t get an invite to the party.

ENA Token Takes a Nosedive as Ethena Calls it Quits in Germany

And now, for the moment we’ve all been waiting for: the ENA token’s response to this bombshell. Spoiler alert—it’s not pretty. The token has dropped faster than my hopes for crypto stability. In the last 24 hours alone, ENA has nosedived by more than 8%. Currently sitting at a miserable $0.2918, it’s down 2.2% over the past week and a dramatic 18.85% over the past month. Ouch. 😬

If you’re still holding onto your ENA tokens, CoinGape’s price prediction is here to tell you that the best it might do in 2025 is a modest $0.3036. On the flip side, it could also sink as low as $0.26244. Fun times!

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2025-04-15 18:46