Crypto market maker Wintermute has secured broker-dealer status in the U.S., giving the firm a regulated route into Wall Street as crypto trading and traditional securities markets draw closer together.
New York-based Wintermute USA LLC registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). The unit will operate as a proprietary trading firm rather than a retail broker.
The registration lets Wintermute trade stocks and equity options, provide liquidity to exchanges and over-the-counter counterparties, and act as an authorized participant for exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including crypto-linked funds.
Wintermute described the unit as proprietary-only and did not announce retail brokerage services.
Wintermute handles more than $10 billion in average daily trading volume across over 60 centralized and decentralized venues, according to the company.
The approval follows a longer U.S. buildout. Wintermute opened its New York headquarters last year and later asked the SEC to confirm that broker-dealers could trade tokenized securities for their own accounts, self-clear transactions and hold proprietary positions through wallet software.
