Anchorage Digital buys Mountain Protocol, USDM stablecoin winds down

Crypto financial institution Anchorage Digital has expanded its stablecoin choices with the acquisition of Mountain Protocol, a stablecoin issuer that claims it’s going to start winding down its most important stablecoin, Mountain USD (USDM).

The acquisition, which is topic to customary closing circumstances and regulatory approval, will combine the Mountain Protocol group, tech stack and licensing framework into Anchorage’s current choices, Anchorage said in a Might 12 assertion.

Whereas phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed, it displays an accelerating number of acquisitions between crypto and TradFi corporations in current months.

Explaining the acquisition, Anchorage CEO Nathan McCauley mentioned stablecoins have gotten the spine of the crypto financial system, whereas anticipating that “each enterprise” will ultimately use stablecoins as a part of their operations.

Mountain Protocol CEO Martin Carrica said its stablecoin expertise and Anchorage’s crypto infrastructure positions the merging companies to fulfill the rising international demand for stablecoin companies.

Anchorage is the one federally chartered digital asset financial institution within the US, whereas Mountain Protocol’s stablecoin companies are regulated by the Bermuda Financial Authority.

It comes round 9 months after Anchorage introduced a stablecoin rewards program for establishments holding the PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoin.

Mountain Protocol’s USDM to wind down

As a part of the acquisition, Mountain Protocol mentioned it will start an “orderly wind-down course of” for USDM, which operates as a yield-bearing stablecoin.

Mountain Protocol mentioned it ceased minting the stablecoin on Might 12 however famous that USDM rewards will stay energetic for one more 30 days. After that, the reward fee will probably be set to 0% APY.

The stablecoin issuer’s clients can redeem their USDM by way of the agency’s platform, whereas different USDM holders are inspired to swap the stablecoin for different tokens on exchanges.

Associated: ‘Dark stablecoins’ could emerge as regulations tighten

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

Mountain Protocol’s USDM noticed appreciable success shortly after launching in late 2023, rising to a $155 million market cap by March 2024, in accordance with RWA.xyz. Nevertheless, its market cap has since fallen beneath $50 million.

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

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