Ether.fi's "Summer" upgrade adds tokenized stock trading via xStocks, Aave-powered portfolio loans at ~4%, and fiat accounts across 30+ currencies to its 500K-member DeFi app.
DeFi News
Ether.fi launched a sweeping update to its self-custodial app on Aug. 13, adding features that go well beyond its origins as an Ethereum (ETH) restaking platform.
The release, called "Summer," lets users trade tokenized stocks and metals, borrow against their holdings at current DeFi rates, and move money in and out through more than 30 currencies, all without giving up control of their private keys.
The company said it now has about 500,000 members and around 150,000 active payment cards, with a $2 billion annual transaction run rate. That base gives it a consumer foothold that most DeFi-native projects lack. CEO Mike Silagadze described the platform's goal directly: to replace the traditional bank for most users by bringing institutional-grade financial tools into a self-custodial environment.
Borrowing Against Your Portfolio Without Selling
The most structurally significant addition is a lending market built onAave (AAVE) and deployed on Optimism, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling network. Borrowing rates on that market currently sit near 4%. Users can pledge their entire portfolio as collateral, including tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), and spend or transfer the borrowed amount through the Ether.fi Cash card without closing any position. Silagadze said this feature is designed to appeal to people who have never used decentralized finance before, because it mirrors how margin accounts function in traditional brokerage but without a centralized intermediary.
Assets available at launch include ETH,Bitcoin (BTC), Hyperliquid (HYPE), and ETHFI, Ether.fi's native governance token. Tokenized equities and commodities trade through xStocks and sit inside self-custodial vaults with social recovery enabled. Silagadze said the team plans to expand the collateral asset list quickly after launch. "Quickly we'll start adding additional assets as collateral," he said.
Earlier in 2026, Ether.fi moved its card infrastructure from Scroll to Optimism. It also signed a three-year agreement with ETHGas, an Ethereum blockspace futures platform, committing $3 billion in ETH as validator liquidity. Those earlier moves set up the infrastructure the Summer release now runs on.
Related Article: Wall Street Is Moving Onto Ethereum — Why Isn't ETH Price Moving With It?
Cash Back, Buybacks, and Regional Restrictions
Every purchase on the Ether.fi Cash card now earns 3% cash back. Users at higher membership tiers pay no top-up fees or foreign exchange fees. A programmatic buyback program for ETHFI, funded directly by platform revenue, is also running as part of the release.
Fiat accounts under the update support more than 30 currencies and payment methods, including Apple Pay and Cash App. Access requires completion of the identity verification process tied to the Ether.fi payment card. Users in countries where card issuance is not possible will be limited to staking and fiat on- and off-ramp services.
Tokenized stock and metals trading is not available in the US or in certain other markets due to regulatory restrictions. Silagadze acknowledged the geographic gap but framed the overall launch as a starting point. The platform's self-custodial model, where users hold their own keys throughout, separates it from centralized exchange products that are adding similar features across the industry.
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