Ethena gained 8.8% over the trailing 24 hours to trade at $0.2135 on 22 October 2026, lifting its circulating market capitalization to $2.85 billion as spot trading volume expanded to $548 million. While the Ethena price rebound recovered ground following an early-month decline from $0.27 to an 18 October low near $0.176, the protocol announced no new operational catalyst behind the move. Crucially, the programmatic ENA buyback ratified by tokenholders in September remains inactive because the circulating supply of synthetic dollar USDe sits $2.84 billion below its mandatory activation hurdle, arriving just ahead of a 275-million ENA token unlock scheduled for 1 November.
ENA Buyback Needs USDe to Start
ENA holders approved the Ethena fee switch in a governance vote that closed on September 2. Under the new rule, a share of Ethena’s protocol revenue goes to the Ethena Foundation, starting at 5% and rising as USDe supply grows. The Foundation then puts 95% of that money into buying ENA on the open market.
Those purchases begin only when USDe, Ethena’s dollar-pegged token, reaches $7.5 billion in supply. USDe stood at about $4.66 billion on October 21, roughly $2.84 billion short of that level. USDe supply would need to grow by about 61% before Ethena buys any ENA under the fee switch.
The November 1 ENA Token Unlock
On 1 November 2026, 275 million ENA will unlock and enter secondary circulation, representing roughly 1.83% of the network’s 15-billion total supply cap. At current market valuations, the unlock releases approximately $58.7 million in newly liquid float.
While roughly 13.4 billion of the 15 billion tokens already circulate, limiting the dilution impact to an estimated 2.05% increase in liquid float, the event requires steady buyer absorption. Because the release accounts for roughly 10.7% of a full day’s trading turnover, spot order books will need to digest the tranche without support from foundation repurchases.
What Traders Should Watch Now
Traders tracking ENA price today must consider that secondary order-book liquidity remains thin, with CoinMarketCap estimating ready-to-trade market depth within 2% of spot at just 0.14% of total market capitalization. At this market depth, concentrated spot sell orders can trigger sharp slippage across centralized venues.
Mechanism Capital, a crypto investment firm, reportedly moved about 7 million ENA, worth around $1.5 million, to a major exchange earlier this week, according to on-chain tracking posts cited by crypto news sites. Exchange deposits often come before sales, though the transfer alone does not confirm that Mechanism Capital sold.
Looking for longer-term ENA price targets? Read our ENA price prediction for 2026 to 2040.
Ethena (ENA) Heads Into the November Unlock Without Active Buybacks
The Ethena price has recovered part of its October decline with no announcement behind the move. The 275 million ENA release on November 1 is on schedule, and the buyback approved in September will remain inactive until USDe supply rises from about $4.66 billion to $7.5 billion.
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