Wintermute, a cryptocurrency market maker, plans to invest approximately $1 billion over the next five years as it expands into traditional finance and ramps up spending on high-frequency trading (HFT), artificial intelligence, and data centers, Bloomberg reports.

Founder and CEO Evgeny Gaevoy stated that "Wintermute is trying to move towards being a full-service trading platform like Jane Street and Citadel Securities." The company intends to extend its operations beyond the crypto market into equities, commodities, and foreign exchange (FX). The move places Wintermute among a growing cohort of large crypto-native firms — including Coinbase and FalconX — that have pursued US regulatory registrations to access traditional asset classes, while established Wall Street players such as Citadel Securities have simultaneously expanded their own digital-asset activities.

Gaevoy acknowledged that competing with established financial firms will require significant capital, as those institutions have spent years developing sophisticated technology infrastructure. Wintermute aims to enhance trade execution speeds and process large volumes of market data, necessitating substantial computing capacity, data storage, and networking facilities. Much of the planned capital will come from retained earnings.

Diversification Beyond Crypto

The strategic shift comes amid a decline in the firm's cryptocurrency trading activity. Average daily trading volume has fallen from approximately $15 billion to around $10 billion.

Currently, Wintermute derives about 10% of its total revenue from non-cryptocurrency products. That figure is expected to exceed 50% by the end of 2027 — a target that would mark a fundamental rebalancing of the firm's revenue base within roughly two years.

Wintermute already offers trading in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and perpetuals backed by real-world assets (RWAs). The company also plans to introduce trading in prediction markets, further diversifying its product offerings.

In the past week, Wintermute announced that its US arm has registered as a broker-dealer. This registration enables the firm to trade equities and equity derivatives and to serve as an authorized participant for exchange-traded products (ETPs) — a role that is critical for creating and redeeming ETF shares and one typically held by large institutional trading firms.

US Expansion and Workforce Growth

Wintermute is also scaling its US operations. The company currently employs 17 people in New York and plans to double that number next year. Globally, Wintermute expects to increase its headcount by 40%.

Strategically, the firm is working to reduce its reliance on the crypto market and reposition itself as a broader financial trading company. By combining its cryptocurrency expertise with investments in AI, high-speed trading, and large-scale infrastructure, Wintermute aims to enter multiple traditional financial markets.

The $1 billion investment represents a pivotal step in Wintermute's transformation from a crypto-focused market maker into a global, multi-asset trading firm. Key milestones to monitor include progress toward the 2027 revenue diversification target, the buildout of HFT and data-center infrastructure, and the firm's ability to gain market share in equities and ETF market-making alongside entrenched competitors.