Unit Adds Spot Ethena to Hyperliquid, as MegaETH Experiences Issues with Pre-Deposit USDM Bridge

Unit, the decentralized asset tokenization protocol powering Hyperliquid’s spot markets, announced the launch of spot deposits, withdrawals, and trading for Ethena’s governance token, ENA, on Hyperliquid.

This integration allows users to seamlessly bridge ENA into Hyperliquid’s ecosystem via Unit’s lock-and-mint mechanism, enabling native spot trading paired with USDC (ticker: ENA/USDC).

It’s a significant step in deepening Ethena’s presence on Hyperliquid, building on prior collaborations like USDe integrations and partnerships with projects such as Based and Nunchi.

This move enhances ENA’s liquidity and utility within Hyperliquid’s high-performance environment, which includes HyperCore (perpetual DEX) and HyperEVM (EVM-compatible layer).

Users can now deposit ENA directly through Unit’s app for one-click transfers, avoiding traditional bridges or CEXs, and leverage it for margin trading, DeFi protocols like borrowing USDe on Euler or Felix, or structured products like delta-neutral stables.

Deposits are facilitated via Unit’s integration with LayerZero’s OFT Standard and StargateFinance, enabling instant ERC-20 transfers into Hyperliquid. Once deposited, ENA becomes tradable on the spot orderbook at app.hyperliquid.xyz/trade/ENA/USDC. Withdrawals reverse the process securely using Unit’s MPC/TSS architecture.

Live as of November 25, 2025. This follows Ethena’s Q4 2024 support for Hyperliquid, including the first HyperCore USD spot asset (hUSDe) offering ~10% APY rewards.

Boosts on-chain liquidity and positions ENA as a “core asset” across execution layers. Recent ecosystem pushes (e.g., Nunchi partnership for nHYPE staking on November 21) have already sparked ENA price rebounds toward $0.247, with analysts noting TD Sequential buy signals and record 73k daily transfers.

For Hyperliquid: Unit has driven $2.95B in spot volume since February 2025 35% of March’s spot trading, with this adding to integrations like uBTC/uETH/uSOL. Hyperliquid’s TVL hit $840M ATH, up 143% monthly, fueled by HIP-3 growth mode.

Aligns with Ethena’s treasury accumulation of ENA $530M raised recently and plans for hUSDe— Hyperliquid-native synthetic dollar collateralized by Unit spots. It also supports HIP-3 deployments using USDe as a quote asset, potentially unlocking yields and airdrops.

Traders and builders emphasized improved mobility for LPs and market makers, reducing reliance on CEXs. No major price volatility reported yet, but sentiment is bullish amid ENA’s oversold recovery.

This integration underscores Ethena’s strategy of quiet, infrastructure-focused expansion, potentially accelerating adoption in Hyperliquid’s $840M TVL ecosystem.

Unlike USDC or USDT which are backed 1:1 by fiat or fiat-equivalent reserves, and unlike DAI or crvUSD which are over-collateralized with crypto, USDe is a delta-neutral synthetic dollar that maintains its $1 peg through a combination of:Cash-and-carry basis trade short perps + long spot/crypto collateral.

Ethena opens a short perpetual position of equal dollar value on centralized and decentralized exchanges (BitMEX, Binance, Bybit, Hyperliquid, Aevo, Pendle, etc.). The collateral sits in custody (Ceffu, Copper, Fireblocks, Cobo) or on-chain and continues earning staking yield.

USDe is created and is fully backed 1:1, but the backing portfolio has virtually zero price risk. When funding rates are positive most of the time in bull markets, shorts get paid ? this income + staking yield is distributed to sUSDe holders.

Staked USDe — the yield-bearing version. You lock USDe to get sUSDe and earn the protocol yield. Hyperliquid-native version of USDe (Unit-wrapped spot asset on Hyperliquid). The yield is highly variable and depends almost entirely on perpetual funding rates.

Ethena has never had to pay negative funding because it dynamically reduces hedge ratios or switches venues when funding turns negative. TVL in backing assets + hedges: >$6 billion. Supported collateral: BTC, ETH, stETH, mETH, cbBTC, tBTC, SOL, USDC, USDT.

If funding goes heavily negative for prolonged period ? yield can go to 0 or negative. Reserve Fund (grows to hundreds of millions), dynamic hedging, insurance fund. Multiple custodians, on-chain proof-of-reserves, MPC wallets. Synthetic dollars could attract scrutiny. Fully on-chain mint/redeem, KYC-free, censorship-resistant design.

It behaves like a crypto-native U.S. Treasury bill. In short: USDe is the first stablecoin that is both capital-efficient and natively yield-bearing at scale, achieved through delta-neutral perpetual short hedging + staked collateral.

MegaETH Experiences Issues with the Pre-Deposit USDM Bridge

MegaETH, an Ethereum Layer 2 network focused on real-time performance, launched a pre-deposit bridge for its USDm stablecoin built in collaboration with Ethena.

The bridge allowed KYC-verified users via Sonar to deposit USDC from Ethereum mainnet in exchange for a 1:1 allocation of USDm upon MegaETH’s Frontier mainnet launch in December.

The initial cap was set at $250 million, with no per-wallet limits, aiming to bootstrap liquidity and reward early participants through points in an upcoming rewards campaign. However, the event quickly unraveled into a series of technical and operational mishaps, leading to outages, unintended deposit surges, and community backlash.

By midday, MegaETH abandoned plans to expand the cap to $1 billion, finalized at $500 million, and enabled withdrawals for dissatisfied users. No funds were lost, and contracts remain secure per audits from Zellic and Slowmist, but the chaos highlighted operational risks ahead of mainnet.

The issues stemmed from a combination of third-party dependencies, configuration errors, and rapid user traffic. The third-party bridge provider used for USDC transfers went offline almost immediately at launch (9:00 AM ET), blocking access for ~1 hour.

Sonar KYC system had a “mismatch in SaleUUID” between the deposit contract and verifier, plus misconfigured rate limits set too low, causing a traffic jam and DDoS-like failures. Over 800 transactions failed with “InvalidSaleUUID” errors.

Delayed start; users spamming refreshes filled the $250M cap in just 156 seconds once resolved, excluding many eligible participants. To raise the cap to $1B, the team queued a transaction in their Safe multisig wallet with a 4-of-4 signature threshold intended as 3-of-4.

This made it executable by anyone, leading to premature execution ~34 minutes early by an unknown party suspected “chud.eth”. A follow-up attempt to cap at $400M failed as deposits already exceeded it. Uncontrolled reopening caused a surge past interim limits; early depositors revolted over yield dilution 4x without warning or opt-outs.

Team clarified “first wave unaffected” via multipliers but faced rug-pull accusations. Initial $250M cap filled instantly ? announced $1B raise ? multisig error ? tried $400M reset ? settled on $500M ? abandoned expansion due to “unresolved KYC bugs.” Withdrawals enabled for opt-outs, but uptake <5%.

Confusion eroded trust; #MegaETH trended with 50K+ mentions on X, mixing frustration and memes about “Ethereum great again.” Bridge launches; outages hit within minutes. Team tweets about third-party API issues.

~10:00 AM ET: Service resumes; $250M cap fills in <3 minutes. 10:15 AM ET: Announce $1B cap raise for broader access; bridge reopen at 11:00 AM. ~10:46 AM ET: Multisig tx executes early; deposits surge again. ~11:00 AM ET: Attempt $400M cap (fails); reset to $500M. Noon ET: Halt $1B plan; enable withdrawals; promise full retro and fixes.

Users reported instant DDoS effects, failed txs, and one whale pre-approving $23M USDC amid chaos. Posts mocked the “reminding us why we need Ethereum great again” vibe, with speculation on premarket shorts for refunds. Transparent team updates and no exploits.

The Block and Bankless called it “turbulence” and “chaos,” praising transparency but critiquing “basic errors” for a “technically-advanced project.” Crypto has a short memory—expect quick recovery if mainnet delivers.

Some tied it to unverified whale activity or quota manipulations, but official channels denied expansions beyond announcements. ~$500M in USDC is locked in audited contracts, with USDm distributions pending mainnet. Withdrawals are available for those unsettled, and users retain rewards eligibility.

MegaETH plans a detailed post-mortem to prevent recurrences, focusing on KYC robustness and multisig processes. The team emphasized: “All contracts remain secure despite the operational missteps.”

For non-participants, this pre-loads strong day-1 liquidity for USDm, potentially tightening spreads on launch. Overall, a bumpy but educational rollout—typical crypto turbulence before liftoff.