Wintermute invests $1 billion in HFT and AI data centres

Crypto market maker Wintermute has announced it will invest around $1 billion in high-frequency trading and AI data centre infrastructure over the next five years. The company wants to make a move into traditional financial markets with this investment, following a decline in daily trading volumes within the crypto sector.

In brief:

• Wintermute is investing $1 billion in HFT and AI infrastructure over five years, funded from its own profits.
• Daily trading volume fell from $15 billion last year to $10 billion this year.
• The company wants to generate more than 50% of its revenue outside crypto by the end of 2027.

From crypto to Wall Street

Wintermute sees the crypto market performing less well than before. CEO Evgeny Gaevoy says average daily trading volume has fallen to $10 billion this year, from around $15 billion last year. That decline, also visible in broader declines in trading volume on crypto exchanges, is prompting the company to diversify.

The company is now setting its sights on equities, commodities, currency markets and prediction markets. Traditional markets currently account for around 10% of total revenue, but Wintermute wants to grow that share to more than 50% by the end of 2027. The investments are being funded from retained earnings, Bloomberg reports.

Registration as broker-dealer and team expansion

To be able to operate in the US equity market, Wintermute’s American arm is registering as a broker-dealer. This gives the company the authority to trade in equities and equity options, and to act as an authorised participant for listed products such as ETFs. That is a requirement to fully participate in regulated markets.

The workforce is growing accordingly. The New York team, currently seventeen strong, will be doubled next year. Wintermute also expects to expand its global workforce by 40%. A similar shift from crypto to AI infrastructure was seen earlier at Keel Infrastructure, which stopped Bitcoin mining to focus on AI data centres.