Key Takeaways
- • Wintermute, an algorithmic liquidity provider for digital assets, closed a $20M Series B round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from Pantera Capital, according to a Business Wire announcement.
- • Wintermute reported a 60% monthly growth rate in 2020, reaching $30B in monthly trading volume by December 2020.
- • The firm plans to launch its own RFQ platform for institutional clients within the first quarter of 2021 and to expand its derivatives business across perpetuals, futures and options.
- • Wintermute plans to open its first international office in Singapore in the first quarter of 2021.
- • Jeremy Liew of Lightspeed will join Wintermute's Board of Directors, and Lightspeed says the firm has grown almost 25x since its Series A led six months earlier.
Summary
Wintermute, a London and Menlo Park-based algorithmic liquidity provider for digital assets, announced the close of a $20M Series B funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Pantera Capital, according to a Business Wire release dated January 20, 2021. Jeremy Liew, Partner at Lightspeed, will join Wintermute's Board of Directors. Other investors in the round include Sino Global Capital, Kenetic Capital, Rockaway Blockchain Fund, Hack VC, DeFi Alliance, and Avon Ventures, a venture fund affiliated with FMR LLC, the parent of Fidelity Investments. Existing investors, including Blockchain.com Ventures, also participated.
The company says it grew at a 60% monthly rate during 2020 and reached $30B in monthly trading volume by December. Wintermute describes itself as one of the largest liquidity providers in crypto markets, covering thousands of pairs across almost 50 exchanges and trading platforms spanning CeFi, DeFi and OTC markets. Lightspeed's Liew said the firm has grown almost 25x since Lightspeed led its Series A round six months earlier.
The firm plans to scale its OTC business by launching an RFQ platform for institutional players within the first quarter of 2021. The platform is currently in beta with select counterparties. CEO Evgeny Gaevoy said Wintermute charges no fees on OTC activity and that the same algorithms used for OTC trading power its proprietary trading. Wintermute is also expanding into derivatives, which Gaevoy said it will address across perpetuals, futures and options, drawing on expertise from traditional high-frequency trading firms such as Optiver.
Wintermute, which operates primarily from London, plans to open its first international office in Singapore in the first quarter of 2021 as it expands its physical presence in Asia. Joey Krug, Co-CIO of Pantera Capital, said crypto markets' growth in size and complexity will require liquidity providers that can evolve alongside decentralized exchanges.
The company says it grew at a 60% monthly rate during 2020 and reached $30B in monthly trading volume by December. Wintermute describes itself as one of the largest liquidity providers in crypto markets, covering thousands of pairs across almost 50 exchanges and trading platforms spanning CeFi, DeFi and OTC markets. Lightspeed's Liew said the firm has grown almost 25x since Lightspeed led its Series A round six months earlier.
The firm plans to scale its OTC business by launching an RFQ platform for institutional players within the first quarter of 2021. The platform is currently in beta with select counterparties. CEO Evgeny Gaevoy said Wintermute charges no fees on OTC activity and that the same algorithms used for OTC trading power its proprietary trading. Wintermute is also expanding into derivatives, which Gaevoy said it will address across perpetuals, futures and options, drawing on expertise from traditional high-frequency trading firms such as Optiver.
Wintermute, which operates primarily from London, plans to open its first international office in Singapore in the first quarter of 2021 as it expands its physical presence in Asia. Joey Krug, Co-CIO of Pantera Capital, said crypto markets' growth in size and complexity will require liquidity providers that can evolve alongside decentralized exchanges.
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