Wintermute's US license pulls a top crypto liquidity provider onto Wall Street rails

One of the biggest liquidity providers in crypto just crossed into regulated US securities markets. On August 6, Wintermute said its New York-based affiliate, Wintermute USA LLC, registered as a broker-dealer with the SEC and became a member of FINRA.

Wintermute called the approval its "entry into U.S. regulated markets" and said it boosts capacity for "institutional counterparties in the region." The market maker averages over $10 billion in daily trading volume across 60-plus centralized and decentralized exchanges.

The license covers proprietary trading only. Wintermute USA can act as principal and provide liquidity in OTC transactions for US equities, options, and other security-based instruments while trading for its own account. It can also self-clear securities transactions using digital assets from its portfolio.

The registration makes Wintermute an Authorized Participant for exchange-traded products, including digital asset ETFs. APs handle creation and redemption of ETF shares, keeping the ETF price aligned with the underlying asset value. That role puts Wintermute inside the infrastructure that builds crypto ETFs.

Founder and CEO Evgeny Gaevoy said in a statement: "Our long-term conviction has always been that digital asset markets will evolve in more than one direction. Digital assets and traditional finance will continue to develop in parallel, intersect in new ways, and ultimately integrate more deeply."

Wintermute said the license followed several years of working with US authorities.

Having a broker-dealer license under one roof simplifies trades, settlement, and risk management across crypto and traditional securities. Institutional investors get access to both markets through a single counterparty.

The move also sharpens competition among market makers. Jane Street and Citadel Securities dominate equity and ETF liquidity. Wintermute built its reputation in crypto. As tokenized securities and digital asset ETFs grow, the edge may go to firms that can provide liquidity on both sides rather than specializing in one.

Tokenization is gaining momentum. Citigroup's "Tokenization 2030: Wall Street On-Chain" report pegs tokenized assets at roughly $17 billion today and projects a $5.5 trillion market by 2030 under its base case. A16zcrypto estimates tokenized real-world assets have already exceeded $34 billion, excluding stablecoins.

The UK's Tokenization Taskforce includes traditional finance names alongside crypto-native firms such as Circle, Ripple, Coinbase, Kraken’s Payward entity, Chainalysis, Fireblocks, Digital Asset Holdings, GFO-X, and Wintermute. That lineup suggests regulators are treating blockchain-based finance as part of the capital markets system, not an alternative to it.

Wintermute said the broker-dealer registration "strategically positions Wintermute USA for the emerging tokenized securities landscape." The company recently launched OTC trading for tokenized gold products like PAXG and XAUT, citing demand for 24/7 blockchain settlement and more efficient collateral moves. Analysts project the tokenized gold market could reach at least $15 billion by 2026.

In January 2026, three SEC divisions stated that securities are not exempt from legal liability just because they rely on a blockchain. Wintermute’s timing suggests the firm wants access to regulated markets before tokenized securities hit the mainstream.

Wintermute USA is headquartered in New York with a dedicated local team. The broader group is based in London.

If other major crypto liquidity providers follow the same path, the line between Wall Street firms and crypto-native market makers will keep blurring. That convergence could reshape how institutional capital flows between the two markets.