Crypto market maker Wintermute has secured broker-dealer status in the United States. The firm registered its American unit, Wintermute USA LLC, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). A broker-dealer is a financial entity licensed to trade securities on behalf of clients, for its own account, or both. The registration opens the door for Wintermute to trade stocks and options and act as an authorized participant for ETFs, including funds tied to Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Wintermute Registers With the SEC and FINRA
The company announced the registration on Thursday, August 6. Wintermute USA LLC will operate as a proprietary trading firm rather than a retail broker. The unit will trade on its own account, not on behalf of individual clients, and will not offer retail brokerage services. FINRA membership requires the company to undergo regular capital and reporting checks, standard for any member of a US financial market self-regulatory organization.
The new status lets Wintermute provide liquidity to exchanges and over-the-counter counterparties. The firm can also act as an authorized participant for ETFs. That means creating and redeeming large blocks of fund shares. The mechanism keeps an ETF's market price close to the value of its underlying holdings.
Separately, the registration lets Wintermute self-clear trades in digital asset securities for its own accounts. Previously, the firm could only handle such operations through intermediaries holding a separate license.
The Firm Is Eyeing a Market-Maker Role on Nasdaq and the NYSE
The FINRA registration also opens a path for Wintermute to seek market-maker roles on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. According to the Wall Street Journal, the firm has already lined up several ETF issuers to work with.
Wintermute opened its New York office last year. Around the same time, the company asked the SEC to confirm that broker-dealers can trade tokenized securities on their own account, self-clear transactions, and hold assets through wallet software instead of a traditional custodial account.
The firm positions itself as one of the largest market makers in crypto. The new status gives it formal access to the same tools long used by traditional Wall Street trading firms. The more authorized participants an exchange-traded fund has, the easier it is for the market to keep a tight spread between the ETF price and the value of its underlying assets, which typically means lower entry and exit costs for investors. The Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF market has grown considerably over the past two years, and large issuers increasingly line up several authorized participants to keep liquidity steady even during periods of heightened volatility.
Other Crypto Firms Have Already Taken This Route
Wintermute joins a list of crypto companies that built or bought a regulated US securities business. The line between crypto markets and traditional finance has been narrowing for several years.
- Ripple completed its $1.25 billion purchase of prime broker Hidden Road in 2025.
- GSR acquired broker-dealer Equilibrium Capital Services.
- Crypto.com bought Watchdog Capital back in 2024.
Each of these deals pursued a similar goal: securing licensed infrastructure for handling traditional assets without waiting for separate regulatory approval every time. Wintermute took a different route and registered its own unit rather than buying an existing broker. Securing this kind of status usually takes months of preparation and coordination with regulators, which is why the other firms chose to buy an already licensed player instead.
The market for tokenized securities in the US remains a niche one for now, but it is growing fast. Large banks and exchanges are testing the issuance of stocks and bonds in blockchain format, and regulators are gradually working out the rules. Broker-dealer status lets crypto firms like Wintermute take part in that process on equal footing with traditional investment banks, rather than through one-off exemptions or pilot programs.
Wintermute's Founder Laid Out the Company's Strategy
"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. As the landscape evolves, the firms that succeed will be those that have technical and operational know-how to operate in both."
- Evgeny Gaevoy, founder and CEO of Wintermute, from the company's official announcement on August 6, 2026
Gaevoy added that the firm will initially focus on crypto-linked markets. Plans to expand into tokenized stocks will depend on further regulatory approvals.
The company noted that the new status covers proprietary trading and work with institutional partners only. Wintermute has not announced plans to launch retail services in the US.
Wintermute's registration landed just as the US Senate pushed a vote on a dedicated crypto market structure bill to September. While the debate continues in Congress, companies are left relying on existing tools such as broker-dealer registration rather than waiting for a single federal framework.
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