Wintermute USA has registered as a broker dealer with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and joined FINRA, giving the crypto market maker a regulated foothold in American securities markets. 

Wintermute announced the registration on Aug. 6, saying the New York based affiliate will focus on proprietary trading and exchange traded product services.

The move brings Wintermute closer to traditional market making roles that were previously unavailable to its U.S. operation. The Wall Street Journal reported that the firm is now eligible to seek designated market maker status on exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. That status is not automatic and would require additional exchange approvals.

Good morning, USA 🇺🇸

Wintermute USA is now an SEC-registered broker-dealer and FINRA member (https://t.co/7rQGL6UzX6)

The registration marks Wintermute’s entry into U.S. regulated markets and strengthens our coverage of institutional counterparties in the region pic.twitter.com/IBZBbAB7GP

— Wintermute (@wintermute_t) August 6, 2026

Wintermute USA gains access to regulated securities trading

Under the new registration, Wintermute USA can trade traditional equities and equity options for its own account, provide liquidity to national securities exchanges and over the counter counterparties, and act as an authorized participant for exchange traded products. The company also said the unit can self clear digital asset securities transactions for its proprietary account.

Wintermute stressed that the U.S. business is focused exclusively on proprietary trading and ETP services. The registration places the entity under SEC oversight and FINRA membership requirements, including rules covering capital, supervision, recordkeeping and trading conduct. Wintermute also cautioned that FINRA registration should not be viewed as a regulatory endorsement.

The firm already has experience around U.S. crypto funds. SEC filings for Fidelity’s Bitcoin and Ether products have listed Wintermute Trading Ltd as a trading counterparty, while firms such as Jane Street and Virtu have served as authorized participants. Becoming a registered U.S. broker dealer creates a route for Wintermute USA to pursue roles that require securities market registration, although each fund or exchange relationship would still require separate agreements and approvals.

Wintermute wants a larger role in ETF market making

The Wall Street Journal reported that Wintermute USA has already secured ETF issuers as clients. CEO Evgeny Gaevoy said the company plans to start in markets close to its existing expertise, including commodities and digital asset ETFs, before considering a broader move into tokenized equities if regulators permit it.

Gaevoy also set an ambitious competitive target. He said Wintermute wants to challenge established firms including Jump Trading, Jane Street and Citadel Securities “within three to five years.” That goal remains forward looking. Wintermute has not disclosed market share targets, expected U.S. revenue or a timetable for obtaining designated market maker status.

The company says its global group handles more than $10 billion in average daily trading volume across more than 60 centralized and decentralized venues. That scale gives Wintermute experience in automated pricing and liquidity provision, but regulated U.S. equity market making has different operational, capital and compliance requirements.

Tokenized equities form the longer term opportunity

Wintermute’s interest in tokenized stocks predates the broker dealer registration. In September 2025, the firm submitted feedback to the SEC Crypto Task Force asking regulators to clarify how registered dealers can trade tokenized securities for their own accounts, self custody those assets and settle transactions onchain.

The registration therefore gives Wintermute a regulated entity that could participate if U.S. rules for tokenized securities continue developing. NYSE has also pursued a framework for tokenized securities to trade alongside conventional shares while using established clearing infrastructure. Those initiatives show how crypto native trading firms and traditional exchanges are moving toward overlapping market structures.

Wintermute had already been building its U.S. presence before securing the registration. As crypto.news reported in May 2025, it opened a New York headquarters and appointed former Blockchain Association executive Ron Hammond to lead advocacy.

What happens next for Wintermute USA

The immediate next step is execution rather than another automatic regulatory milestone. Wintermute USA can operate within the permissions described in its registration, but becoming an authorized participant for particular ETFs or a designated market maker on an exchange requires additional arrangements.

Likewise, the planned tokenized equity expansion depends on regulatory permission and market infrastructure that is still evolving. Wintermute’s own release described its tokenization ambitions as part of a future strategy rather than an approved business line.

For now, the broker dealer registration gives Wintermute a regulated platform for proprietary securities trading and ETP services in the U.S. It also narrows a structural gap between the firm’s crypto market making operation and traditional Wall Street firms that already sit inside ETF creation, redemption and exchange market making systems.

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A bipartisan ethics proposal pitched to US President Donald Trump to secure passage of the crypto market structure bill in Congress could create a significant tax benefit for the president, Bloomberg reported Thursday. 

The ethics addendum, which has not been made public, includes a provision requiring the president to divest from crypto-related businesses, according to people familiar with the matter. The proposal would reportedly allow Trump to defer capital gains taxes on any required divestitures, potentially leading to tax savings in the millions. 

Democratic concerns over Trump’s crypto conflicts have been a central obstacle to passing the market-structure bill. Senators have been working on an ethics addendum meant to break that impasse, though the reported tax-deferral benefit could become another point of contention for Democrats to question whether the president’s financial interests are genuinely curbed. 

Cointelegraph reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive an immediate response. 

Related: US Senate pushes CLARITY Act vote to September: Report

Trump’s annual financial disclosure report for 2025, released at the end of June, revealed the US president saw $1.4 billion in income from crypto-related ventures last year.

According to the 927-page disclosure, the licensing and sale of memecoins such as Official Trump (TRUMP) generated the most income for Trump, with about $635 million coming from “royalties” in a “license agreement with Celebration Coins.”

Meanwhile, the Trump family’s DeFi platform, World Liberty Financial, was the second-biggest earner, generating about $588 million from “proceeds from token sales.” 

The disclosure also revealed that Trump earned $197 from the sale of an equity interest in a stablecoin venture. 

Meanwhile, disclosures on World Liberty’s website show that DT Marks DEFI LLC, an entity affiliated with Trump and certain family members, owns “approximately 38% of the equity interests” in World Liberty’s parent company.

Magazine: CLARITY hopes fade, BitMEX shuts as lawsuit looms: Hodler’s Digest, July 26 

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Upbit will add Block Street (BSB) to its Korean won, Bitcoin and USDT markets on Aug. 7, giving the token three new spot pairs in South Korea. 

According to Upbit’s official listing notice, the exchange scheduled trading for 3:00 p.m. Korea Standard Time and said deposits and withdrawals would initially be supported only through Ethereum.

Upbit also warned that the trading start could be delayed if adequate liquidity is not secured. The exchange said users should verify the supported network before transferring BSB because deposits sent through unsupported networks may require a lengthy return process.

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Upbit will impose temporary BSB trading limits

Upbit plans several restrictions during BSB’s opening period. Buy orders will be blocked for about five minutes after trading begins. During the same period, sell orders priced more than 10% below the previous day’s closing price will also be restricted.

In addition, Upbit will allow only limit orders for roughly two hours after trading support starts. The exchange cited a previous closing price of 211.09 KRW and a recent reference price of 222.34 KRW at 11:45 a.m. KST on Aug. 7. Those figures were published before Upbit trading opened and therefore do not represent a post-listing market reaction.

The listing notice identified BSB’s supported Ethereum contract as 0xdb6ba5d510f114f9b2ea08bea7d30e32eee33411. Users are expected to verify that contract before making deposits or withdrawals.

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The structure resembles other recent Upbit additions. Upbit added Derive’s DRV token to KRW, BTC and USDT markets while also applying temporary trading controls around the launch.

Block Street targets tokenized asset liquidity

Block Street describes itself as infrastructure for on-chain capital markets focused on tokenized equities and real-world assets. According to the project’s official documentation, its architecture is intended to connect fragmented liquidity across issuers, blockchains and trading venues.

The protocol calls this infrastructure a “Unified Liquidity Layer.” Block Street says the system is designed to improve execution and capital efficiency for tokenized assets while supporting functions such as borrowing, margin, hedging and arbitrage.

BSB serves as the protocol’s utility and governance token. According to Block Street’s BSB documentation, holders can use the token for governance participation, staking and ecosystem incentives.

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The project’s whitepaper fixes total BSB supply at 1 billion tokens. Block Street said 207.75 million BSB, equivalent to 20.775% of supply, were expected to circulate around the token generation event.

The project has also raised outside capital to build its infrastructure. Block Street announced an $11.5 million strategic funding round in October 2025, led by Hack VC with participation from Generative Venture, DWF Labs, StudioB and Bridge34.

Meanwhile, tokenized equities have become a broader market theme. In related coverage, tokenized equity activity increased as crypto companies and traditional market participants expanded blockchain-based stock infrastructure.

What happens when BSB trading opens

The immediate event to watch is Upbit’s planned 3:00 p.m. KST trading start on Aug. 7. Because the exchange made the launch conditional on sufficient liquidity, the announced time remains subject to change.

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Once trading begins, Upbit’s initial restrictions will expire in stages. The five-minute controls on buy orders and low-priced sell orders will end first, while the exchange plans to maintain its limit-order-only restriction for roughly two hours.

At the time covered by the announcement, there was no verified Upbit market reaction because trading had not yet begun. As a result, price movements on other exchanges before the scheduled launch should not be described as an Upbit listing reaction without time-matched market data.

For deposits, users must continue using the Ethereum network and verify the contract address specified in the Upbit announcement. Although Block Street’s whitepaper describes BSB deployments across Ethereum and BNB Chain, Upbit’s listing notice supports Ethereum only.

That distinction will remain important once deposits, withdrawals and trading are active because transfers made through unsupported networks may not be automatically credited.

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