Wintermute to take Ethena’s USDe as trading margin

Wintermute is accepting USDe, a cryptocurrency-backed stablecoin, as collateral for spot crypto and derivatives trades, the trading firm said on Oct. 25.

Wintermute’s clients can now post “USDe as collateral for options, [credit default swaps], forward, and spot trading,” the company said in a post on the X platform.

The stablecoin joins Wintermute’s existing roster of accepted crypto collateral, which includes Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL) and US Dollar Coin (USDC), Wintermute said.

Trading platforms and regulators are increasingly embracing cryptocurrency as collateral for trades.

In September, the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) — the United States’ central clearinghouse for securities trades — completed a pilot program exploring using tokenized US Treasury bills as trading margin.

Traders are often required to post collateral, or “margin,” to secure trades until they are completed. Clearinghouses manage margin deposits and continuously update, or “settle,” trading accounts.

Stablecoins, and other tokens tied to US dollar-denominated assets, are emerging as core infrastructure for trading and payments.

Stablecoin’s total market capitalization hit record highs in 2024 and now exceeds $170 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

On Oct. 21, payment processing giant Stripe acquired stablecoin platform Bridge in a $1.1 billion deal.

PayPal USD (PYUSD), which the eponymous payment processor launched in 2023, has since been used to settle corporate payments.

USDe’s circulating supply has soared to more than $2.6 billion since issue Ethena Labs launched the unique stablecoin in February, according to CoinMarketCap.

It still ranks far behind market leaders Tether (USDT) and USDC, which tout market capitalizations of roughly $120 billion and $34 billion, respectively.

Issuer Ethena Labs lets users mint USDe against tokens including BTC, ETH, and liquid staking derivatives (LSDs), and other stablecoins.

Ethena then hedges against the portfolio’s inherent volatility using offchain financial derivatives.

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