Ethena’s Trial by Fire

During the October 10, 2025 crypto crash, which saw over $19 billion in leveraged positions liquidated, Ethena's USDe sharply depegged on Binance to $0.65 for about 90 minutes due to thin liquidity and platform glitches, while holding the peg on the most liquid onchain venues like Curve. This ignited oracle debates, with critics faulting Binance's internal orderbook oracle for ignoring deeper onchain liquidity, while proponents pushed for diversified oracles blending CEX, DEX, and redemption data; additionally, it highlighted tensions between proof-of-reserve (PoR) stability and volatile secondary market prices. The event also spurred discussions on Aave's decision to hardcode USDe's value to USDT, which prevented massive unnecessary liquidations but raised questions about whether overriding market signals is a prudent long-term approach. Broader debates questioned if USDe qualifies as a true stablecoin, given maintaining a strict peg isn't its explicit goal,  or if the synthetic dollar is better viewed as a riskier asset akin to a tokenized hedge fund. Despite the turmoil, Ethena handled nearly $2 billion in redemptions across October 10 and 11, underscoring ongoing and seamless issuer redeemability at $1 amid market fluctuations. Ultimately, the depeg served as a trial by fire that reinforced both the resilience of Ethena’s design and the need for clearer standards around oracle composition and synthetic-dollar stability.

Arbitrum Breaks Past $1B in RWA with EXOD

Exodus Movement, Inc. (the publicly traded crypto wallet provider, NASDAQ: EXOD) has tokenized its common stock on Arbitrum, marking a significant step in bridging public equities with onchain DeFi. Launched via Securitize, the $EXOD token represents direct ownership of Exodus shares, enabling 24/7 trading, fractionalization, and composability in DeFi protocols. The launch pushed Arbitrum’s RWA past ~$1.06B TVL, with $EXOD alone at ~$537M, overtaking prior leaders like Spiko’s EU Treasuries, shifting the landscape toward equity-based RWAs, and positioning Arbitrum as the #4 RWA chain. Combined with institutional rails already live (BENJI, BUIDL, WTGXX) and the DAO’s STEP program generating ~$1.35M in cumulative interest, $EXOD underscores Arbitrum’s growing role as a low-cost settlement layer for tokenized funds and equities and the accelerating bridge between public markets and onchain finance.

Solstice’s USX Surpasses $200M on Solana

USX is a Solana-native stablecoin launched by Solstice Finance on September 30, designed for transparency, composability, and sustainable yield through delta-neutral strategies via its YieldVault protocol. It debuted with an impressive $166 million in TVL on day one, now surpassing $211 million, backed by major institutions like Galaxy Digital, Bitcoin Suisse, and DeusX Capital. What makes it interesting is its focus on permissionless access, with no minimums or KYC for retail users, while offering up to 15.4% APY on locked USX (as eUSX), integrated across Solana DeFi protocols like Orca, Raydium, and Kamino for efficient, low-fee transactions. This positions USX as a foundational layer for "Internet Capital Markets," blending institutional-grade yields with Solana's speed and scalability, and it's already fostering community engagement through flares points and upcoming $SLX token rewards.

Stripe Adds USDC Recurring Billing on Base and Polygon

On October 14, Stripe announced its expansion of stablecoin integration for recurring subscription payments, enabling merchants to accept USDC on the Base and Polygon blockchains for seamless, automated monthly or ongoing charges directly from customer crypto wallets. This feature builds on Stripe's earlier crypto payment capabilities to enhance global accessibility and reduce transaction friction. Highlighting growing adoption, in September, Stripe processed over $17 million in USDC transaction volume across Polygon ($8 million), Ethereum ($8 million), and Base (approx. $960,000), contributing to a year-to-date total exceeding $100 million. This came amid a pivotal week for crypto payments and real-world use cases, with MoonPay launching MoonPay Commerce on October 16 to support stablecoins like USDC and USDT for recurring subscriptions via easy integrations, and on the same day Coinbase enhancing Coinbase Business with USDC-based global payouts including automated recurring options, plus similar initiatives by RocketFuel and ACI Worldwide/BitPay. These developments underscore the accelerating mainstream integration of stablecoins for everyday commerce, validating Polygon's aggressive 2025 strategy to prioritize payments as a core use case, propelled by the October 8 launch of the Rio hardfork, which boosts network speed, cuts node operation costs, and solidifies its role as a global payments network.

OpenSea Reclaims Momentum

OpenSea, the pioneering NFT marketplace, has staged a dramatic resurgence in October 2025, with total activity surging to $3.56 billion in volume over the past 30 days — of which $3.03 billion came from token trading and $525 million from NFTs. That mix means over 85% of activity now comes from tokens rather than NFTs, marking a structural shift in OpenSea’s business. The platform’s year-to-date volume has reached $5.37 billion, its strongest performance of 2025 and one of the best since the 2021 peak. Monthly revenue climbed 202% to $30.6 million, with $25.5 million from token trading, boosted by new user incentives like the Chests rewards program. This surge signals OpenSea’s broader evolution from “NFT marketplace” to “trade everything,” as it prepares to launch its long-awaited SEA token in Q1 2026 and expand engagement mechanics across a maturing, multichain ecosystem.

Nothing in this newsletter constitutes financial advice.

Always do your own research.

Dune Digest is all about cutting through the noise and surfacing the most relevant onchain trends. If you have insights, dashboards, or data-driven stories that belong in the Digest, drop your suggestions here.

‍