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).<\/p>\n
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\u2019s existing offerings, Anchorage said<\/a> in a May 12 statement.<\/p>\n While terms of the deal weren\u2019t disclosed, it reflects an accelerating number of acquisitions<\/a> between crypto and TradFi firms in recent months.<\/p>\n Explaining the acquisition, Anchorage CEO Nathan McCauley said stablecoins are becoming the backbone of the crypto economy, while anticipating that \u201cevery business\u201d will eventually use stablecoins as part of their operations.<\/p>\n Source: <\/em>Anchorage Digital<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Mountain Protocol CEO Martin Carrica said<\/a> its stablecoin experience and Anchorage\u2019s crypto infrastructure positions the merging companies<\/a> to meet the growing global demand for stablecoin services.<\/p>\n Anchorage is the only federally chartered digital asset bank in the US, while Mountain Protocol\u2019s stablecoin services are regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority.<\/p>\n It comes around nine months after Anchorage introduced<\/a> a stablecoin rewards program for institutions holding the PayPal USD (PYUSD<\/a>) stablecoin.<\/p>\n As part of the acquisition, Mountain Protocol said it would begin an \u201corderly wind-down process\u201d for USDM, which operates as a yield-bearing stablecoin.<\/a><\/p>\n Mountain Protocol said it ceased minting the stablecoin<\/a> on May 12 but noted that USDM <\/strong>rewards will remain active for another 30 days. After that, the reward rate will be set to 0% APY.<\/p>\n The stablecoin issuer\u2019s customers can redeem their USDM through the firm\u2019s platform, while other USDM holders are encouraged to swap the stablecoin for other tokens on exchanges.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>\u2018Dark stablecoins\u2019 could emerge as regulations tighten<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Mountain Protocol\u2019s Ethereum-based USDM<\/a> is not to be confused with Mehen Finance\u2019s USDM stablecoin,<\/a> which runs on the Cardano network.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mountain Protocol\u2019s USDM saw considerable success shortly after launching in late 2023, rising to a $155 million market cap by March 2024, according to RWA.xyz<\/a>. However, its market cap has since fallen below $50 million.<\/p>\n RWA.xyz estimates there are around 10,820 USDM holders.<\/p>\nMountain Protocol\u2019s USDM to wind down<\/h2>\n