Meridian (prev. Ethereal) 

What is Ethereal crypto?

Ethereal is a decentralized spot and perpetual futures exchange built natively on the Ethena Network, the ecosystem behind the USDe synthetic dollar. The platform targets CEX-grade execution with self-custody, using USDe and staked eUSDe receipt tokens as core collateral. Ethena Labs introduced Ethereal via governance proposal on September 30, 2024, and Mainnet Alpha launched October 20, 2025. In 2026 the project rebranded to Meridian.

Is Ethereal built on Ethena or related to USDe?

Yes. Ethereal runs as the first native application on the Ethena Network and settles trading in USDe, Ethena's synthetic dollar. Staked eUSDe receipt tokens serve as core collateral for perpetuals positions. Ethena also directs a dedicated rewards allocation — approximately 0.14% of ENA supply, or 20,643,750 ENA — to Ethereal traders. Official documentation states the exchange is designed to onboard the Ethena ecosystem's $6B+ in liquidity.

How does Ethereal's perp DEX trading infrastructure work?

Ethereal operates an EVM appchain purpose-built for trading. Arbitrum One handles settlement, an Arbitrum execution environment processes the exchange layer, and Celestia provides data availability. Official documentation targets sub-20 ms latency and 1 million+ orders per second. The roadmap extends beyond perpetuals to spot trading, money markets, and RWA products, all settling in USDe.

What are Ethereal Points and how does points farming work?

Season Zero, opened February 13, 2025, rewarded early usage with points on USDe pre-deposits (received as eUSDe), scaling linearly with deposit size and duration, plus a 30x Ethena rewards multiplier. Per DropsTab data, Point Farming remains the entity's active campaign. Deposits reached roughly $900 million from 24,000+ depositors by April 28, 2025. After Mainnet Alpha, rewards moved on-platform: USDe Balance Rewards and Trading Rewards paid weekly, capped at 27.1828% APR on average weekly margin balance.

Did Ethereal reward users with ENA?

Yes — through Ethena Exchange Points, a six-month Ethena program that rewarded trading activity on Ethereal with ENA. Ethena allocated 100 million points weekly per the Ethereal blog, and accumulated points converted to ENA at the program's end. This program, not an Ethereal token airdrop, is the ENA distribution that actually materialized for Ethereal users.

Is the Ethereal airdrop confirmed?

No Ethereal token airdrop has been announced or distributed — no token, ticker, or on-chain contract exists as of the Meridian rebrand. The only supply commitment on record comes from Ethena Labs' September 30, 2024 governance proposal, which earmarked 15% of any potential future Ethereal governance token for ENA holders and stakers. That commitment has not been reconfirmed since the 2026 rebrand, so treat it as unconfirmed until an official token announcement.

Can you buy the Ethereal token on exchanges?

No. Ethereal has no token, so no centralized exchange, decentralized venue, or derivatives platform lists a market for one. The only trading surface is the Ethereal/Meridian application itself — perpetuals on its own appchain, now extended to mPerps on Robinhood Chain. Any third-party "Ethereal token" listing or presale claim does not correspond to an official instrument.

Did Ethereal rebrand to Meridian?

Yes. In 2026 the project rebranded from Ethereal to Meridian, refocusing on RWA-focused perpetuals, prediction markets, and mPerps on Robinhood Chain, where Meridian launched as a day-one partner. The Meridian stack also includes a Meridian Liquidity Provider (MLP) vault with a $1 million pre-deposit cap. DropsTab retains the "Ethereal" entity for the same project.

Is Ethereal the same project as Ethereal Ventures or "Etherial"?

No — three distinct entities share the name. Ethereal Ventures is a venture capital firm with no connection to the exchange. Ethereal at ethereal.build is a separate spot DEX founded by Robert Leshner of Superstate. "Etherial" is a common misspelling of Ethereal, the Ethena Network perps exchange covered here, founded by Afif Bandak, previously of Synthetix and The Block.