Anchorage Digital Aims to Pay 'Rewards' on Ethena's Tokens Under GENIUS Act

Federally chartered crypto bank Anchorage Digital is set to launch a rewards program for holders of USDtb and USDe tokens, without directly offering yield in a way that would violate the U.S. stablecoin laws.

Institutions can now hold either token on Anchorage’s platform and receive rewards on idle holdings without staking or locking up their assets, the firm said in a press release shared with CoinDesk.

The rewards are paid through Anchorage Digital Neo Ltd., a separate entity from Anchorage Digital Bank, allowing the firm to navigate restrictions under the GENIUS Act, the firm told CoinDesk.

"Both the underlying stablecoins and associated rewards are safeguarded by our industry-leading custody and security architecture," a spokesperson told CoinDesk via email. "We provide our rewards program through an entity wholly separate from Anchorage Digital Bank."

The initiative is funded by Anchorage and aims to give institutions "more flexibility and capital efficiency in their treasury management," the Anchorage spokesperson added.

The GENIUS Act, passed earlier this year to provide a legal framework for the fast-growing stablecoin sector, prohibits issuers to pay out interest on stablecoins in an effort to prevent unregulated banking activity, effectively banning yield-bearing stablecoins.

Anchorage's proposed structure aims to offer a template for U.S. issuers to distribute reward-like benefits and incentives to token holders while remaining compliant with U.S. regulations.

Ethena's USDtb stablecoin, issued by Anchorage, is backed by short-term Treasuries including BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund. Meanwhile, the USDe token, was designed as a "synthetic dollar" where it holds spot crypto assets like bitcoin BTC$86,842.13 and ether ETH$2,894.12 and an equal amount of short futures to anchor its price to $1.

"We are proving that stablecoins can deliver both rewards and regulatory integrity, a powerful combination that will define the next era of participation in digital assets," Ethena Labs founder Guy Young said in a statement.