- Wintermute exploited the FDUSD depeg by redeeming over 75 million tokens at full value after buying them below peg on Binance.
- First Digital refuted insolvency rumors and confirmed FDUSD’s full backing, citing legal action against misleading claims by Justin Sun.
- FDUSD received a “constrained” rating from S&P Global due to concerns about asset transparency, governance, and regulatory oversight.
Blockchain data revealed that Wintermute, a prominent crypto market maker, capitalized on the recent depegging of the FDUSD stablecoin by securing a $3 million arbitrage profit. On-chain intelligence platform Lookonchain reported that Wintermute transferred more than 75 million FDUSD tokens to issuer First Digital shortly after the stablecoin dropped to $0.87.
According to transaction records, Wintermute moved over 31 million FDUSD tokens from Binance during the depeg period. The firm appeared to purchase the tokens at a discount and subsequently redeemed them at their full value through First Digital. Analysts estimated that Wintermute likely acquired the tokens near $0.90, leading to an estimated $3 million in profit when FDUSD returned to its dollar peg.
FDUSD Stability Faces Renewed Scrutiny
FDUSD faced renewed scrutiny following accusations from Justin Sun, which alleged insolvency and led to market instability. First Digital countered these claims, confirming that FDUSD remains fully backed and redeemable at a one-to-one ratio with the US dollar. The issuer stated that it would pursue legal action over what it called false allegations.
S&P Global Ratings previously issued a stability assessment for FDUSD, rating it at 4, indicating constrained stability. The agency explained that while the stablecoin remains backed by assets, several factors, including governance, liquidity, and transparency, contributed to the lower score.
Market Watch Intensifies Post-Liquidation Events
Since February’s significant $2.24 billion crypto market liquidation, investor focus on the behavior of market makers has intensified. Evgeny Gaevoy, founder of Wintermute, attributed recent volatility to broader traditional finance events, such as DeepSeek and the recent tariff moves under former President Trump.
