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.

Source: Anchorage Digital

Mountain Protocol CEO Martin Carrica said its stablecoin experience and Anchorage’s crypto infrastructure positions the merging companies to meet the growing 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.

Mountain Protocol’s USDM to wind down

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.

Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight

The X account of the Ethereum layer 2 network ZKsync and its developer Matter Labs were compromised early on May 13, with hackers falsely claiming the network was being probed by US authorities, among other scam messages.

A ZKsync-related X account posted on May 13, confirming the accounts for ZKsync and Matter Labs were compromised, warning users not to interact after the accounts shared links to a fake airdrop in an apparent phishing scam.

Other X users had warned the ZKsync X account was compromised. Source: pseudo

The hacked ZKsync and Matter Labs then both posted a fake statement claiming ZKsync was under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and that the Treasury Department could impose sanctions on the platform.

Matter Labs communications head Lynnette Nolan confirmed to Cointelegraph that the now-deleted X post “is not legit” and both accounts are now “fully back in the control of the team.”

“Shoutout to the zksync hackers. Instead of dropping a token and stealing a few bucks they decided to scare the living shit out of onchain degens,” crypto startup g8keep co-founder Harrison Leggio, who goes by “Pop Punk,” posted to X.

Source: Harrison Leggio

The fake statement was seemingly aimed at crashing the price of the platform’s self-titled token, ZKsync (ZK), which has fallen around 2% in the last hour amid the X account breach, according to CoinGecko.

The SEC has investigated crypto companies in the past, and many of these firms have chosen to publicly disclose when they’ve been investigated by the regulator.

The SEC has stopped many of its probes under the Trump administration, with Crypto.com, Immutable, OpenSea, and RobinHood Crypto, among others, confirming the agency had ended investigations.

ZK is down 6.4% over the last day to trade at around 7 cents, cooling from a nearly 38.5% rally it’s enjoyed over the past week.

Related: US prosecutors want 2 years for SEC X account hacker

Matter Labs’ Nolan said the firm was looking into how the X accounts were breached, and believed it was via “compromised delegated accounts,” which allow users limited access to an X account, allowing them to post on its behalf.

Two hacks in as many months

It’s the second compromise of ZKsync-controlled platforms since April.

On April 15, an attacker breached the admin account of ZKsync’s airdrop distribution contract and used a function to mint 111 million unclaimed ZK tokens, worth approximately $5 million at the time.

The hack happened amid the platform handing out 17.5% of ZK’s supply to ecosystem participants.

The attacker later returned 90% of the stolen tokens, agreeing to keep 10% as a bounty.

Magazine: ZK-proofs are bringing smart contracts to Bitcoin — BitcoinOS and Starknet

Key Takeaways:

Dogecoin’s 38% surge reflects strong market demand, with spot-buyer volumes taking charge since March.

A bullish MACD crossover has traders predicting a 180% rally, with targets at $0.65 and $1.

Dogecoin’s (DOGE) price rallied in lockstep with Ethereum over the past 7 days, gaining 38% in May, which is its strongest monthly performance this year. According to CoinGecko, DOGE recorded $4.7 billion in trading volume over the past 24 hours, ranking fifth among the top cryptocurrencies (excluding stablecoins). 

The memecoin’s market strength has been coupled with strong onchain insights. Data from CryptoQuant noted that DOGE’s spot taker 90-day cumulative volume delta (CVD), which measures the net difference between buying and selling volume over 90 days, has been “taker buyer dominant.” It indicates more aggressive buying than selling, a pattern last seen in November 2024, leading to DOGE’s breakout rally of 385% to $0.48 in Q4, 2024. 

DOGE spot taker CVD. Source: CryptoQuant

Similarly, the long-term holder net unrealized profit/loss (NUPL), which tracks unrealized profits or losses for DOGE holders with a lifespan of at least 155 days, recently crossed 0.5 for the first time since March 1, 2025, turning to optimistic or “belief” sentiment. A NUPL above 0.5 means most holders are in profit, signaling confidence and a reduced likelihood of selling. This optimism reinforces price stability, as holders could refrain from selling and hold out for higher gains.

The above metrics suggest strong market demand, with investors actively accumulating Dogecoin, which likely contributed to its recent gains. 

DOGE long-term holder NUPL. Source: Glassnode

Related: Bitcoin price inches closer to new all-time high as ETH, DOGE, PEPE and ATOM rally

Is DOGE set for another parabolic rally?

With a favorable market structure, anonymous technical analyst Trader Tardigrade revealed a bullish outlook involving the DOGE/BTC trading pair. The chart reflected a previous rally where DOGE surged 30,000% from $0.0024 to $0.739, suggesting a similar setup. 

DOGE/BTC analysis by Trader Tardigrade. Source: X.com

Historically, Dogecoin and Bitcoin share a strong correlation—around 0.67 over the past three months, per Macroaxis data—meaning BTC’s movements often dictate DOGE’s trajectory. The analyst predicts BTC’s surge could be followed by a sideways phase, triggering a massive DOGE rally for weeks. 

In a separate analysis, Trader Tardigrade also noted that the immediate target for Dogecoin remains $1, after the memecoin exhibited a weekly MACD bullish crossover for the third time since 2024. As illustrated in the chart, each bullish crossover has been followed by a breakout, with prices jumping 180% between January 2024 and March 2024, and a whopping 385% between September 2024 and December 2024.  

Dogecoin weekly analysis. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Crypto trader Javon Marks outlined a similar target for Dogecoin, forecasting an immediate target of $0.65, which will be its highest price since May 2021. Marks said, 

“$DOGE (Dogecoin) now showing MAJOR STRENGTH after setting Higher Lows! $0.6533 can be coming in another nearly +180% upside and prices could even break above, bringing $1+ into play.”

Related: Bitcoin all-time high cues come as US-China deal sends DXY to 1-month high

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.