Mountain Protocol
AcquiredFounded 2023 Β· 2 employees on LinkedIn Β· 4 known investors
Mountain Protocol offers a regulated, enterprise-grade stablecoin product designed to pass the "risk free rate" to stablecoin holders, acting as a bridge between crypto and traditional finance markets. It targets investors and businesses seeking a compliant platform.
Also known as Mountain Protocol Limited Β· Mountain Protocol Ltd Β· USDM
Investors Β· 4
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Mountain Protocol Limited is a Bermuda-incorporated digital asset company that issued USDM (Mountain USD), described as a permissionless, yield-bearing stablecoin. USDM was a rebasing ERC-20 token redeemable 1:1 for USD by primary customers and fully collateralized by "USDM Reserves" held in segregated, bankruptcy-remote accounts with regulated custodians, composed exclusively of short-term US Treasuries and equivalent assets. Holdings of stablecoins and bank deposits in the reserve were minimized to reduce counterparty risk. Rewards were generated by interest paid on the Treasuries and distributed by daily rebasing, which modified token balances via a reward multiplier, so holders accrued rewards regardless of where the token was held.
The company operated two products: the USDM token and the Mountain Protocol Platform, through which primary customers (incorporated businesses in supported countries with an active account) could mint and redeem USDM, initially against USDC with fiat settlement planned. Secondary users could obtain USDM from other holders or via decentralized exchanges. USDM was natively supported on Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, ZKSync Era, Celo and Avalanche, with Chainlink CCIP used for cross-chain bridging. The company positioned itself on regulatory compliance, reserve transparency (proof of reserves and third-party attestations) and institutional infrastructure, citing an OpenZeppelin smart contract audit and use of Fireblocks MPC custody.
In May 2025 Anchorage Digital announced its acquisition of Mountain Protocol and the company began an orderly, three-phase wind-down of USDM, citing in part the evolving U.S. regulatory landscape and upcoming stablecoin legislation. Minting was disabled, rewards were reduced to zero, and remaining backing was to be moved into a Uniswap liquidity pool against USDC; the primary market closed on August 22, 2025.
Founding story
The company was launched in 2023 around the view that stablecoin holders are the natural owners of the "risk free rate" and should receive it through a secure, regulated, enterprise-grade product. Co-founder and CEO Martin Carrica framed the thesis as returning to holders the roughly 5% Treasury yield that Circle and Tether retained.
Business model
Mountain Protocol issued a fully reserved stablecoin, holding customer funds in short-term US Treasuries and passing the interest earned on those reserves to token holders through daily rebasing. The company stated it charged no mint, redemption or transactional fees to primary customers, who paid only gas costs.
Sources do not state how the company earned revenue beyond describing that USDM Reserves were invested in short-term US Treasuries whose interest was distributed to holders as rewards, and that no mint or redemption fees were charged.
Traction
USDM's supply reached about $154 million in March 2024, aided by a Manta rewards campaign, then declined to roughly $49 million by June 2024. At the time of the May 2025 acquisition, coverage citing CoinMarketCap reported a market capitalization of about $152 million, a price of $0.9998 and roughly 10,820 holding addresses. USDM was natively issued across eight blockchains and integrated into DeFi lending protocols.
Latest developments
Anchorage Digital announced the acquisition of Mountain Protocol on May 12, 2025, and USDM minting was disabled the same day. Rewards ran for 30 days (Phase 1, May 12-June 11, 2025), then dropped to 0% (Phase 2, June 12-July 11, 2025). Phase 3, beginning August 22, 2025, replaces Treasury backing with a Uniswap concentrated-liquidity pool of USDC against wUSDM on Ethereum, making Uniswap the sole redemption route. The company said its team would focus on supporting Anchorage's global stablecoin efforts, and stated the wind-down resulted from the transition and the evolving U.S. regulatory landscape rather than poor performance.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Mountain Protocol was part of a wave of issuers, alongside Paxos and Angle, sharing US Treasury yield with stablecoin holders in contrast to Circle and Tether, which retained that yield and together held a combined market value approaching $150 billion. USDM's supply peaked at about $154 million in March 2024, boosted by a rewards campaign on the Ethereum layer 2 Manta, before falling to roughly $49 million by June 2024; press coverage described the company as having struggled to maintain early momentum in an increasingly crowded stablecoin market.
The company emphasized a permissionless, freely transferable ERC-20 design combined with a regulated issuer structure: a Bermuda Monetary Authority license, a direct and simple claim on the underlying assets without complex legal wrappers, bankruptcy-remote segregated reserves held by an orphan SPV (USDM Reserves Ltd), proof of reserves and third-party attestations, and reserves composed exclusively of short-term US Treasuries with minimized bank and stablecoin exposure.
Technology
USDM was a permissionless rebasing ERC-20 token whose balanceOf was adjusted daily via a reward multiplier, making it composable with any ERC-20-compatible smart contract. Native issuance spanned Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, ZKSync Era, Celo and Avalanche, with Chainlink CCIP for native bridging. Security measures cited include an OpenZeppelin smart contract audit and Fireblocks MPC custody. A wrapped version, wUSDM, was used in DeFi integrations, and the wind-down plan relied on a concentrated-liquidity Uniswap pool on Ethereum.
Go-to-market
Mountain Protocol onboarded institutional primary customers through an account-based platform and a sales contact process on its website, while distribution to secondary holders occurred through exchanges and DeFi protocols. Growth was pursued through multi-chain native issuance, DeFi integrations and partner rewards campaigns, and proceeds of the 2024 raise were earmarked for hiring and expansion to 15 additional blockchains including Solana and Cosmos.
Primary customers were incorporated businesses in supported jurisdictions that passed onboarding and held a Mountain Protocol account; secondary holders were any wallet acquiring USDM on-chain or via exchanges. The company also targeted cross-border payments and users in countries with unstable currencies, with the CEO citing his native Argentina as an example. Access was restricted from the US and a long list of sanctioned or restricted jurisdictions.
Geography
The issuing entity, Mountain Protocol Limited, is a Bermuda limited company regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. Services, the website and the USDM token were unavailable to users in the United States and in a broad set of sanctioned or restricted jurisdictions. The company identified cross-border payments and high-inflation markets such as Argentina as its main opportunity.
History
Mountain Protocol launched in 2023 and obtained a Bermuda Monetary Authority Digital Asset Business license (#202302512). It raised a $4 million seed round in September 2023 with backing from Coinbase Ventures and Castle Island, followed by an $8 million round led by Multicoin Capital announced in June 2024. USDM supply peaked near $154 million in March 2024 and declined thereafter. In May 2025, Anchorage Digital announced its acquisition of the company, and Mountain Protocol commenced a three-phase orderly wind-down of USDM; Phase 2 concluded and the primary market closed on August 22, 2025.
Risks & controversies
The product was unavailable to US persons pending US stablecoin legislation, which the CEO said created a perception problem in partner and vendor negotiations ("why are you not working in the US? It sounds sketchy"). USDM supply fell roughly two-thirds from its March 2024 peak, and press coverage noted difficulty competing with Tether and Circle on liquidity and scale. In Phase 3 of the wind-down, USDM is no longer backed by Treasuries or redeemable at $1 from the issuer, shifting holders to trust in the collateral stablecoin, Ethereum and the Uniswap protocol, and redemptions via Uniswap fall outside BMA-regulated activity. Holders in permissionless DeFi protocols could not be removed automatically. The company also warned users not to confuse USDM with a similarly named token on the Cardano network.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Timeline Β· 7
launches, deals, and filingsMountain Protocol stated USDM would conclude Phase 2 of its wind down on August 22, 2025, after which the primary market closes and remaining holders must redeem via secondary markets.
Anchorage Digital announced the acquisition of Mountain Protocol, taking over its systems and infrastructure and its team experienced in issuing yield-bearing stablecoins. Financial terms were not disclosed. CEO Martin Carrica said the company's focus would shift to supporting Anchorage's global stablecoin expansion.
Following the Anchorage Digital acquisition agreement, Mountain Protocol began a three-phase wind-down of USDM, citing in part the evolving U.S. regulatory landscape and upcoming stablecoin legislation. Minting was disabled on May 12, 2025; Phase 1 (May 12-June 11) kept rewards active, Phase 2 (June 12-July 11) set the reward rate to 0%, and Phase 3 (from August 22) moves remaining backing into a Uniswap pool of USDC against wUSDM. The process is coordinated with the Bermuda Monetary Authority under Bermuda's Digital Asset Business Act.
Mountain Protocol raised $8 million in a round led by Multicoin Capital, to be used for hiring, expanding USDM to an additional 15 blockchains including Solana and Cosmos, enabling 1:1 redemption for other stablecoins, and business use cases.
$8M source β
Coinbase Ventures and Castle Island backed Mountain Protocol's $4 million September seed round.
$4M source β
Mountain Protocol launched in 2023 with the aim of passing the risk-free rate to stablecoin holders through a regulated, enterprise-grade product.
Mountain Protocol Limited, a Bermuda limited company, is licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority as a Digital Asset Business under license #202302512.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- Mountain Protocolmountainprotocol.com Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Mountain Protocol do?
- Bermuda-regulated issuer of USDM, a yield-bearing stablecoin, acquired by Anchorage Digital in May 2025 and now wound down.
- Who are Mountain Protocol's investors?
- Mountain Protocol's investors include Coinbase Ventures, Department of XYZ, Multicoin Capital, Venture Dept..