TBW - Mike Silagadze (EtherFi): "We are going to launch a return product based on the euro"
The Big Whale: 2025 has been a pivotal year for EtherFi. How would you sum up the last twelve months?
Mike Silagadze: It's been a year of profound transformation. We started it as a staking protocol linked to the EigenLayer ecosystem, driven by a points and rewards dynamic. We are ending it with a new identity: that of the largest crypto neobank in the sector. We are very satisfied with this trajectory, which has enabled us to move from a technical service to a global financial platform.
For those who don't follow developments in the protocol on a daily basis, how would you define the Ether.fi service offering today?
Our vision is to build what we call a "Crypto DeFi Bank". For the user, the experience should be as fluid as that of Revolut (based in the UK), Nubank (Brazil) or Chime (USA), but built entirely on the rails of decentralised finance (DeFi).
Concretely, we offer two pillars. First, investment products: you can store your ETH, your BTC, or even your dollars in the form of stablecoins via our strategy vaults. Over the last 14 days (the interview was conducted on 15 January), our returns have been around 7% on USD and 5% on ETH. Secondly, we have a credit card and a non-custodial wallet that allows you to spend your assets or borrow against them at competitive rates, currently around 4%. The major advantage remains the non-custodial model: fewer fees and more rewards for the end user.
"A third of our revenue is generated by the credit card"
What are the key figures supporting this growth?
Today, our annualised transaction volume is approaching $1 billion, for a total locked value (TVL) in our services of between $9 and $10 billion. In terms of adoption, we have around 60,000 active cards. While this figure may seem modest compared with traditional fintech, it is a notable achievement in the crypto ecosystem. By way of comparison, a major protocol like Hyperliquid has around 40,000 active users.
Where do the majority of your revenues come from today?
The mix is increasingly diversified. Around 50% of our revenue still comes from our various staking products. A third is now generated by the card business, mainly through interchange fees and interest on loans. The rest comes from our vaults.
>> EtherFi: How relevant is its business model?
You claim to be the first DeFi card on the market. What really sets you apart from the competition?
There are other non-custodial cards, but we are, I think, the first to have integrated all the DeFi services (spend, borrow, grow) within an experience that really resembles a traditional fintech. It is this vertical integration that is our strength.
"Our goal is to reach one million active users"
Legally speaking, what is the nationality of EtherFi? Are you a US entity?
EtherFi is first and foremost a protocol, with smart contracts and a governance token. Legally, we are structured via a foundation and a company (EtherFi Labs, editor's note) in the Caymans.
What are your priority objectives for 2026?
The challenge is to break out of the circle of "pure natives" of DeFi. We're targeting a wider audience: users who are interested in crypto but don't want to deal with the technical complexity on a day-to-day basis. Our aim is to reach one million active users. It's an ambitious target, but consistent with our current rate of growth.
The geographical distribution of your users is rather atypical. Where is your main base located?
That's an interesting point. We have very little presence in the United States, which only accounts for 10 to 15% of our users. The rest is worldwide: Europe, Taiwan, Brazil, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates. This distribution is organic. As we cannot carry out direct marketing in most of these countries for regulatory reasons, we operate on the basis of 'reverse solicitation'. People find us, test the product and talk about it around them.
Last year, you mentioned Spain as a potential drop-off point in Europe in an interview with The Big Whale. Is this still the case?
We've changed our mind about Spain. To be honest, there is no 'ideal' country in Europe. We are still in the evaluation phase to choose the jurisdiction where we will establish our regulatory structure.
Is France one of your options?
It's not a bad choice, but it probably wouldn't be our first choice. We're looking for a crypto-friendly regulator, controlled legal costs and, above all, a framework that allows efficient passporting to the rest of the European Union. We will make a final decision by the fourth quarter of 2026.
"EURC is currently the only euro stablecoin with real scale"
You plan to launch specific products for the European market. What is the timetable?
In a month's time, if all goes well, we will be launching a euro-based yield product. This will include the integration of the EURC stablecoin developed by Circle, a euro vault and the ability to spend euros via the card without exchange fees.
Why did you choose Circle's EURC rather than other solutions, such as Société Générale-FORGE?
EURC is currently the only euro stablecoin with real scale, with liquidity around ten times greater than its competitors. It makes sense to start there, although we remain open.
From a regulatory perspective, are you aiming for an electronic money institution (EME) licence?
This is an option we are considering. At the moment, we operate with licensed partners and we have a VASP licence in the Caymans. Our absolute priority is to remain non-custodial. This means that we don't fall into the category of traditional banks, which entails risks and constraints that we want to avoid. It is also for this reason that we do not fall directly under certain MiCA obligations.
The ETHFI token has been going through a difficult period since its launch in 2024. How do you plan to restore value to token holders?
It is frustrating that the market is currently 100% correlated with ether (ETH). Yet EtherFi is one of the few DeFi projects with solid fundamentals and real revenues, but the price doesn't reflect that yet.
We have a fairly aggressive token buyback programme, in the region of $200,000 a day. If the company continues to grow and we reach revenues in the region of $300 or $400 million, we will be able to increase these buybacks. In the long term, it's cash flow generation that will make the difference. We remain focused on building the product.
>> DeFi Protocols Revenue Redistribution Systems Survey
