Terminal Finance has exceeded $280 million in total value locked before even launching, drawing massive early support for its vision of yield-powered DeFi trading.
Key Takeaways
- Terminal Finance, incubated by Ethena Labs, secured over $280 million in pre-launch deposits across capped vaults.
- The DEX focuses on trading yield-bearing stablecoins like sUSDe and USDtb, aiming to become DeFi’s liquidity hub.
- More than 10,000 wallets participated in the pre-deposit phase, and early users will be rewarded via airdrops.
- A unique “Yield Skimming” mechanism will redistribute asset yield within the DEX to boost trading efficiency.
What Happened?
Terminal Finance, a new decentralized exchange built to support trading in yield-generating stablecoins and institutional assets, has amassed over $280 million in deposits before its official launch. The platform, closely tied to Ethena Labs and powered by its stablecoin ecosystem, is expected to go live by the end of the year.
The caps are in.
— Terminal Finance (@Terminal_fi) October 13, 2025
$280M reached across pre-deposit vaults.
// Terminal_ pic.twitter.com/A5KjdmB6YL
Terminal Finance Sets Records Ahead of Launch
The $280 million in total value locked (TVL) came through three fully capped vaults holding 225 million USDe, 10,000 WETH, and 100 WBTC. All deposits were made during Terminal’s pre-launch phase, showing strong interest from retail and institutional users alike.
More than 10,000 wallets participated in the pre-deposit phase, reflecting significant anticipation around the platform’s launch. According to the team, early contributors will qualify for airdrop rewards as part of the upcoming token generation event (TGE), which is also expected later this year.
The exchange is already tracking these deposits via DeFiLlama, where the vaults’ activity is publicly visible, further supporting transparency and community trust.
How Terminal Finance Works?
Terminal Finance is designed as the primary DEX within the Ethena ecosystem, though it operates independently. It leverages Ethena’s core stablecoin assets like USDe and its yield-bearing variant sUSDe, along with USDtb, which is backed by BlackRock’s BUIDL fund. These will serve as base pairs to enable trading against major crypto assets such as ETH and BTC.
A key innovation lies in Terminal’s Yield Skimming mechanism. This system captures yield from assets like sUSDe and redistributes it within the exchange to enhance returns for liquidity providers, traders, and token holders. This approach improves capital efficiency and liquidity dynamics, giving Terminal a strategic advantage over conventional DEXs.
According to Sam Benyakoub, Co-Founder and CEO of Terminal Finance:
Community Incentives and Tokenomics
Terminal’s early adopters are expected to benefit from future governance token allocations through a system called Terminal Points. This program has been tracking user engagement since June 28, with up to 10% of the governance token supply potentially allocated to holders of sENA, based on their points activity. Final eligibility and distribution details will be confirmed closer to the TGE.
Nick Chong, Head of Strategy at Ethena, added:
What’s Next for Terminal?
Looking forward, Terminal Finance plans to expand across multiple blockchains, aligning with Ethena’s broader goal of making USDe a central asset in decentralized finance. Its ambition is to serve as the leading liquidity hub for yield-bearing stablecoins and enable efficient token issuance, trading, and liquidity provisioning across the entire DeFi stack.
With integrations already secured with major protocols like Pendle, EtherFi, and Morpho, Terminal is positioning itself as a central infrastructure layer in the next phase of DeFi growth.
CoinLaw’s Takeaway
In my experience watching the DeFi space evolve, it is rare to see a project gain this level of traction before even launching. Terminal Finance is clearly tapping into a major shift in market sentiment where users are no longer satisfied with just stability. They want yield, composability, and deep liquidity. By baking those into its foundation, Terminal has a real shot at becoming a go-to trading venue for both crypto natives and institutions. The Yield Skimming feature especially feels like a clever twist that could give it staying power in an increasingly competitive DEX market.
