Ethena Labs, Securitize unveil 'Converge' network roadmap

Ethena Labs, the developer of the USDe synthetic dollar (USDe), and financial technology company Securitize, released a preliminary roadmap for their upcoming Converge network, a high-throughput blockchain focused on real-world assets and decentralized finance (DeFi).

According to the announcement, a testnet will be live in the coming weeks, with a mainnet launch later in 2025.

Converge will feature a 100 milliseconds (ms) native block time, with plans to reduce block times to 50ms by Q4 2025. The developers also plan to achieve at least one gigagas of potential throughput during 2025. Gigagas is a measure of billions of gas units processed by a blockchain network in one second.

Ethena and Securitize are launching the network to support permissioned real-world tokenized applications and permissionless DeFi applications as the line between traditional and decentralized finance continues to blur.

Cryptocurrencies — *Converge 1-year performance targets. Source:* *Converge*

Traditional finance converging with the crypto world

Traditional financial institutions are increasingly using decentralized finance protocols and interacting with tokenized real-world assets like stablecoins and tokenized bonds.

The merging of TradFi and DeFi has drawn mixed reactions from the crypto community, with some saying it was inevitable that the two worlds came together, and others warning of institutional capture.

In a Jan. 21 interview, Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson told Bloomberg that US President Donald Trump would integrate crypto and traditional finance by establishing clear regulations.