Franklin Templeton digital asset veteran Christopher Jensen becomes CEO of StablecoinX

StablecoinX has named Christopher Jensen CEO, tasking him with overseeing the company’s ENA treasury. Jensen succeeds Ted Chen, who remains chairman of the board.

Jensen takes over ENA treasury at StablecoinX

StablecoinX appointed former Franklin Templeton digital asset executive Christopher Jensen as CEO. The role puts him in charge of the largest corporate holder of Ethena’s ENA token.

Jensen replaces Ted Chen, who led StablecoinX through its public listing in June and will continue as chairman.

StablecoinX trades on Nasdaq as USDE

StablecoinX is publicly listed on Nasdaq under the ticker USDE. The company focuses on the Ethena ecosystem, where Ethena issues USDe, a synthetic dollar that ranks as the fifth-largest stablecoin with nearly $4.4 billion in circulation, according to DefiLlama data.

ENA is Ethena’s governance token, giving holders voting rights over protocol changes.

StablecoinX holds 3.03 billion ENA

StablecoinX holds about 3.03 billion ENA tokens, roughly 20% of the token’s total supply, according to the company. It is described as ENA’s largest corporate holder.

Background ties Jensen to Ethena since early stages

Before joining StablecoinX, Jensen was a portfolio manager and director of digital asset research at Franklin Templeton. He helped build the firm’s digital asset group after its launch in 2018.

Franklin Templeton’s blockchain venture fund participated in Ethena’s seed round, giving Jensen exposure to the protocol from its early stages.

Appointment follows Ethena Pay launch

The CEO appointment comes about a week after Ethena launched Ethena Pay, a self-custodial app that lets users spend, save and transfer its USDe synthetic dollar across 48 countries.

ENA is down about 20% year to date, but has rebounded more than 80% over the past month to trade around $0.16, according to CoinGecko.

Why this matters

The CEO change places a Franklin Templeton veteran at the helm of StablecoinX, a major ENA holder with a large voting stake in Ethena’s governance.