Ethena governance has approved a fee switch that would direct 95% of net protocol revenue to buying back ENA once USDe's circulating supply reaches $7.5 billion. The vote closed on September 2 with 17.78 million ENA in favor and none against, well above the 5 million ENA quorum.

The buybacks do not start immediately. USDe supply was about $6.33 billion at the time of the vote, so it would need to grow by roughly 18.5% to reach the activation threshold, with purchases scaling as supply passes further milestones.

The vote followed an August 27 overhaul of ENA's token structure. The Ethena Foundation bought out locked tokens from several large seed investors, and remaining original investor allocations will unlock in one release on October 5 instead of in monthly installments.

The changes aim to reduce recurring investor selling and connect ENA more directly to the protocol's revenue. Whether the design works depends on USDe demand, since the buyback begins only after supply growth. The October 5 unlock is the nearest event likely to test market depth.