Anchorage Digital buys Mountain Protocol, USDM stablecoin winds down

Crypto bank Anchorage Digital has expanded its stablecoin offerings with the acquisition of Mountain Protocol, a stablecoin issuer that says it will begin winding down its main stablecoin, Mountain USD (USDM).

The acquisition, which is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval, will integrate the Mountain Protocol team, tech stack and licensing framework into Anchorage’s existing offerings, Anchorage said in a May 12 statement.

While terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, it reflects an accelerating number of acquisitions between crypto and TradFi firms in recent months.

Explaining the acquisition, Anchorage CEO Nathan McCauley said stablecoins are becoming the backbone of the crypto economy, while anticipating that “every business” will eventually use stablecoins as part of their operations.

Mountain Protocol CEO Martin Carrica said the company’s expertise in stablecoins, combined with Anchorage’s crypto infrastructure, positions the merged entities to meet rising global demand for stablecoin services.

Anchorage is the only federally chartered digital asset bank in the US, while Mountain Protocol’s stablecoin services are regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority.

It comes around nine months after Anchorage introduced a stablecoin rewards program for institutions holding the PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoin.

As part of the acquisition, Mountain Protocol said it would begin an “orderly wind-down process” for USDM, which operates as a yield-bearing stablecoin.

Mountain Protocol said it ceased minting the stablecoin on May 12 but noted that USDM rewards will remain active for another 30 days. After that, the reward rate will be set to 0% APY.

The stablecoin issuer’s customers can redeem their USDM through the firm’s platform, while other USDM holders are encouraged to swap the stablecoin for other tokens on exchanges.

Related: ‘Dark stablecoins’ could emerge as regulations tighten

Mountain Protocol’s Ethereum-based USDM is not to be confused with Mehen Finance’s USDM stablecoin, which runs on the Cardano network. 

Mountain Protocol’s USDM saw considerable success shortly after launching in late 2023, rising to a $155 million market cap by March 2024, according to RWA.xyz. However, its market cap has since fallen below $50 million.

RWA.xyz estimates there are around 10,820 USDM holders.

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