A stablecoin that pairs a long crypto position with a short perpetual futures hedge to create synthetic dollars that earn funding-rate yield.
Delta-neutral stablecoins hold spot cryptoasset collateral (typically ETH or BTC) alongside an equal-and-opposite short perpetual futures position on centralized exchanges. The two legs cancel out price exposure, leaving a dollar-neutral position that earns the perpetual funding rate. Ethena's USDe pioneered the design at multi-billion scale in 2024. The risks are exchange counterparty risk, funding-rate reversals, and liquidity crunches — very different from fiat-backed risk.