Wintermute registers as SEC broker-dealer to trade stocks, options and crypto ETFs

Crypto market maker Wintermute said it has registered a subsidiary as a broker-dealer with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, with plans to expand into trading traditional equities and commodities, according to an announcement on Thursday.

In particular, the registered firm can provide liquidity to U.S.-based securities exchanges and over-the-counter counterparties and trade stocks and options from its proprietary account. It will also be able to self-clear digital asset securities transactions and act as an Authorized Participant for exchange-traded products, “including those tied to digital assets,” the company said.

A broker-dealer is a firm or individual that is registered with the SEC and FINRA to both execute trades for clients as a broker and trade securities for its own account as a dealer, while an Authorized Participant creates and redeems large blocks of ETF shares by exchanging them for the underlying basket of securities or cash, helping to maintain the fund's price aligned with its net asset value.

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

Wintermute noted that its expansion into traditional assets comes amid a boom in tokenization. While the SEC has been largely in favor of blockchain experimentation, the agency has also noted that simply moving a security onchain does not mean securities laws do not apply.

In fact, the SEC has stated that a slew of onchain securities activities will require appropriate licensure.

Earlier this year, the firm said it would begin market-making for tokenized gold and providing two-sided liquidity for prediction markets.

Wintermute, based in London, said it facilitates over $10 billion in average daily trading volume and provides liquidity across more than 60 centralized and decentralized exchanges globally. Wintermute USA will be based in New York.