Wintermute Enters Wall Street Fray with Broker-Dealer Registration

Wintermute has taken a significant step in its bid to challenge Wall Street's dominance in market making by registering as a U.S. broker-dealer with FINRA and the SEC.

The move allows Wintermute to seek designated market-maker status on major exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, which is critical for building trust with ETF issuers who require reliable liquidity for their products.

Wintermute has already secured ETF issuers as clients and plans to start in crypto-adjacent markets such as commodities and digital-asset ETFs before moving into tokenized equities, assuming U.S. regulators open that door.

The company's goal is to capture a first-mover advantage if the SEC eventually permits stock trading on blockchains, which would require it to have broker-dealer licenses and crypto-native infrastructure in place.