Wintermute partners with stablecoin issuer Mountain Protocol to strengthen USDM liquidity

Crypto market maker Wintermute has partnered with stablecoin issuer Mountain Protocol to strengthen liquidity for USDM, which gives non-U.S. users yield-bearing access to U.S. Treasury bonds.

The partnership will let users redeem USDM for USDC +0.081% at any time via Wintermute's liquidity provisioning while avoiding banking risks to USDM reserves, according to a statement shared with The Block. 

"Wintermute will trade USDM for USDC and hold USDM in their books until TradFi markets open and Mountain Protocol can liquidate the T-bills held in USDM Reserves, onramp them and repurchase the USDM from Wintermute," Mountain Protocol said.

"If you take weekends into account and a TradFi settlement and onramp time of t+2, this allows users to liquidate their USDM immediately while allowing Mountain Protocol to close the loop to access TradFi liquidity up to 4 days later," it added. 

Mountain Protocol's past funding

Mountain Protocol raised undisclosed seed funding led by Nic Carter from Castle Island Ventures in September of 2022. The firm did not publicize its funding amount due to regulatory reasons, The Block reported at the time. 

USDM is not available in the U.S. and has not been registered as a U.S. security. The Bermuda Monetary Authority licensed Mountain Protocol as a digital asset issuer on July 27. 

Disclaimer: Evgeny Gaevoy, the founder and CEO of Wintermute, sits on The Block's board of directors and is a shareholder.