Ethena Labs has integrated Bitcoin as a collateral asset for its USDe synthetic dollar, aligning with traders' growing enthusiasm for the resurgence of the pioneering digital asset.

In a series of announcements on X, the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol unveiled its decision to back USDe with Bitcoin, enabling the dollar-pegged token to scale by over 2.5 times and enhancing the safety of its offerings for traders. This strategic move comes amid the rapid expansion of Bitcoin derivative markets, surpassing their Ethereum-based counterparts.

"As Ethena approaches the $10 billion mark, this decision reinforces a more robust backing for our protocol, ensuring enhanced safety for our users," stated the protocol on Thursday. Currently, USDe boasts a supply worth approximately $2 billion.

Ethena also emphasized Bitcoin's superior liquidity and stability profile for delta hedging compared to liquid staking tokens, underscoring the rationale behind incorporating Bitcoin as a backing asset.

Historically, USDe has relied solely on Ether liquid staking tokens for backing, as indicated on Ethena Labs' website. However, the surge in trader interest towards Bitcoin has prompted the protocol to diversify its backing assets.

Over the past year, Bitcoin open interest has surged by 150%, reaching $25 billion, significantly expanding USDe's scaling capacity. In contrast, Ether's open interest saw a 100% increase to $10 billion during the same period, according to data cited by the protocol.

Bitcoin's heightened demand aligns with its remarkable ascent in speculative value, currently trading at $68,384, according to data from The Block, marking a 4% increase over the past 24 hours.