Wintermute USA LLC has registered with the SEC and FINRA, gaining U.S. broker-dealer status that allows it to trade stocks and equity options and to act as an authorized participant for ETF blocks, including crypto-linked funds. The unit will operate as a proprietary trading firm rather than a retail broker. Wintermute handles more than $10 billion in average daily trading volume across over 60 centralized and decentralized venues, and its registration lets it seek market-making roles on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.
Wintermute USA LLC has registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and will operate as a proprietary trading firm rather than a retail broker. The registration authorizes the unit to trade stocks and equity options for its own account. It permits Wintermute to provide liquidity to exchanges and over-the-counter counterparties. The registration also allows the firm to act as an authorized participant for exchange-traded funds, including crypto-linked funds. Authorized participants create and redeem large blocks of ETF shares.
The broker-dealer registration enables Wintermute to seek market-making roles on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. 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, as stated in the article. The article reports that this activity spans both centralized exchanges and decentralized trading venues and that the figure reflects the firm’s aggregated daily flows. Wintermute opened its New York headquarters last year, a corporate development noted in the report.
Wintermute 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, and the article records those regulatory requests. These regulatory requests and operational details are included in the report. The article presents these items alongside the firm’s other recent developments.
The article reports that Ripple completed its $1.25 billion purchase of prime broker Hidden Road in 2025. It states that GSR acquired broker-dealer Equilibrium Capital Services and that Crypto.com bought Watchdog Capital in 2024. The article notes that the line between crypto markets and traditional finance is narrowing. The Wall Street Journal reported that Wintermute has lined up ETF issuers to work with. The article presents these transactions and reports together as a set of recent moves in which crypto firms have acquired or partnered with brokerages and related financial entities, as noted in the article.
