Wall Street’s traditional giants have a new challenger, and this time it comes from the crypto world. Wintermute, the largest crypto market maker based in London, plans to deploy $1 billion over the next five years. The goal is to build high-frequency trading (HFT) infrastructure and establish artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.
This expansion move is not aimed at dominating Bitcoin or other digital asset trading. Instead, the company is targeting stock, commodity, and foreign exchange markets. Its ambition: by the end of 2027, Wintermute aims to push non-crypto market revenue past 50% of its total revenue, a sharp jump from its current share of just 10%.
Who Are the Targeted Competitors?
This expansion fund does not involve external investors at all. The entire investment plan is funded purely from the company’s retained earnings. Wintermute CEO, Evgeny Gaevoy, stated that his company booked profits in 2025 and that positive trend continues in 2026, although the exact figures were not disclosed. For comparison, during the 2021 crypto bull run, the company generated $582 million in profit.
This capital strength will be used to reinforce HFT engines and AI data centers. This new infrastructure is prepared to train quantitative models using massive volumes of market data, demanding upgrades to high-level computing, storage, and networking capacity.
The targeted competition is also no small-time player. Wintermute is preparing to challenge traditional HFT giants like Jane Street, Citadel Securities, and XTX Markets. The competition is fierce - XTX Markets alone records a daily trading volume of over $250 billion and recently announced a 1 billion euro investment plan to build five data centers in Finland. Jane Street, on the other hand, has also begun building its own data centers to support its trading algorithms.
A Ticket to Wall Street
This strategic shift away from crypto has already begun gradually since last year. Throughout 2025, Wintermute started trading ETFs and perpetual futures linked to real-world asset instruments. Their aggressiveness continued in March 2026, when they increased exposure to West Texas Intermediate crude, facilitating 24-hour crude oil trading. It did not stop there; the company also opened a prediction-markets desk in early 2026.
The climax of their regulatory maneuvering paid off last week. Wintermute’s US affiliate secured broker-dealer status. This official license opens the door wide, allowing their entity to trade stocks, buy and sell stock options, and act as an authorized participant for various ETF products on traditional exchanges.
Despite aggressively expanding into conventional assets, Wintermute’s footing in its native market remains firm. In the first half of 2026, institutional clients actually contributed a record 72% of the total spot trading volume on their over-the-counter (OTC) desk.
This $1 billion investment plan proves that money minted from blockchain volatility is now starting to fund an invasion into conventional finance. The boundary line that once separated crypto market makers and the rulers of Wall Street will slowly continue to fade.
Reported by CoinDesk.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
