Ethena founder Guy Young stated on the X platform that many people misunderstand the relationship between Ethena and Tether—they are not competitors, rather, their growth directly promotes each other. In a market where approximately 70% of perpetual contracts are denominated in USDT, each short position added by Ethena creates new demand for USDT, as the counterparty must use USDT as collateral to establish a long position. This mechanism implies that every time 1 USD worth of USDe is minted, supported by perpetual contracts, it drives approximately 0.7 USD worth of demand for USDT.

Young pointed out that Tether does not need to launch its own yield products, as traders are already using USDT as collateral, paying 10%-30% annualized interest to long perpetual contracts. Ethena is the channel that converts this demand. The behavior of crypto market users is extreme, either pursuing extreme liquidity or the highest yield. When interest rates decline, the middle ground of "poor liquidity yet boasting risk-free yield" will be eliminated. In the trading field, one needs to be more liquid and have better distribution advantages than Tether, and in savings, one must offer higher yields than Ethena. The middle path is unlikely to succeed. He believes that the "barbell strategy" formed by Tether and Ethena is the ultimate form of industry development.