Ethena Labs announced on Wednesday that the German financial regulator BaFin and Ethena GmbH, the company’s German branch, have agreed on a recovery plan for USDe stablecoin holders.
The regulator said it has started a 42-day redemption period for stablecoin holders. BaFin explained that USDe holders have until Aug. 6 to submit their redemption claims directly to Ethena GmbH. A special representative appointed by BaFin will supervise the process.
After the deadline, Ethena GmbH will be officially closed in Germany, the EU, and the EEA. From Aug. 7 onward, any claims should be made through the company’s offshore affiliate, Ethena (BVI) Ltd.
BaFin ends four-month Ethena dispute
Ethena Labs announced it will have no outstanding issues related to its USDe operations once it fully completes the redemption plan. However, the company didn’t mention whether it plans to return to the EU and EEA markets.
The news comes after a four-month dispute between Ethena and Germany’s financial regulator. On Mar. 21, BaFin stopped Ethena GmbH from publicly offering its USDe stablecoin, citing breaches of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
The government agency accused the company of selling unregistered securities through its yield-generating sUSDe tokens linked to the USDe stablecoin.
Ethena drops MiCA efforts in Germany
The regulator imposed sanctions by freezing USDe’s reserve assets, ceasing the company website and portal, and ordering it to stop offering services to new users.
On Apr. 15, Ethena Labs started ceasing all operations of its German subsidiary. At that time, the company said it would no longer seek a MiCA license in Germany.
The company said its German subsidiary hasn’t carried out any minting or redemption of USDe since Mar. 21, when the authority took enforcement action against Ethena GmbH.
