Crypto market maker Wintermute said it has registered a subsidiary as a broker-dealer with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, with plans to expand into trading traditional equities and commodities, according to an announcement on Thursday.
In particular, the registered firm can provide liquidity to U.S.-based securities exchanges and over-the-counter counterparties and trade stocks and options from its proprietary account.
It will also be able to self-clear digital asset securities transactions and act as an Authorized Participant for exchange-traded products, “including those tied to digital assets,” the company said.
A broker-dealer is a firm or individual that is registered with the SEC and FINRA to both execute trades for clients as a broker and trade securities for its own account as a dealer, while an Authorized Participant creates and redeems large blocks of ETF shares by exchanging them for the underlying basket of securities or cash, helping to maintain the fund's price aligned with its net asset value.
