What is Wintermute in crypto?

Wintermute is one of the large trading firms that keep crypto markets liquid. It constantly offers to buy and sell tokens on exchanges, which narrows the gap between buy and sell prices for everyone else. It also trades large blocks directly with institutions and invests in early-stage crypto projects.

What is Wintermute company?

The Block reported in 2020 that Wintermute was founded in 2017 by a group of executives from Optiver, a traditional market-making firm, and that it runs a fully in-house algorithmic trading platform. Evgeny Gaevoy is founder and CEO.

Its website lists an OTC desk for spot, options, forwards and tailored products, programmatic liquidity through an API, DeFi partnerships, and Wintermute Ventures. In 2022 it launched Node, an OTC platform for institutions and qualified individuals offering over 250 digital assets. In August 2026, The Block said Wintermute handles more than $10 billion in average daily trading volume across more than 60 venues.

Wintermute Trading Ltd is registered with the UK Financial Conduct Authority for anti-money laundering purposes. Its site says that neither its UK nor its Singapore entity is authorised or regulated by any regulator for its trading activity, that both trade for their own account and that they do not hold customer assets. The new US broker-dealer is a separate, registered entity.

What does a crypto market maker do?

A market maker posts both buy and sell orders so others can trade at any time, and it earns from the small spread between the two prices. Wintermute's site describes helping token projects create liquid markets for their tokens globally. For the general mechanics, see what is a crypto market maker. Large private trades that would move a public order book usually go through an OTC desk, another Wintermute business line.

What is Wintermute's connection to Binance?

Binance is one of the venues where Wintermute provides liquidity, as The Block reported as early as 2020. The link drew attention after the market crash of October 10, 2025, which wiped out over $20 billion in leveraged positions. Wintermute had reportedly moved about $700 million onto Binance hours earlier and withdrew a similar amount later. Gaevoy said the firm came through the crash, called some of its liquidations strange, and denied rumors that it planned to sue Binance. Background on the exchange is in is Binance safe.

Has Wintermute been hacked?

Yes. In September 2022, Wintermute said $160 million had been stolen from a DeFi vault. Security analysts linked it to an admin wallet created with Profanity, a vanity address tool whose keys had been shown to be crackable by brute force a week earlier. Common attack patterns are covered in how crypto gets hacked.