Wintermute Doubles Down on NYC Expansion as Crypto Regulation Thaws
High-frequency crypto trader Wintermute just planted its flag in Manhattan—a bold bet that Washington’s regulatory ice age is finally cracking.
Why now? The firm’s CEO Evgeny Gaevoy cites ’shifting signals’ from US regulators, who’ve spent years swinging between indifference and enforcement hammers. Meanwhile, rivals like Jump Crypto are quietly expanding Chicago offices. Coincidence? Probably not.
Behind the scenes: Wintermute’s move comes as bipartisan crypto bills gain traction—and just months after that hilariously awkward Senate hearing where lawmakers confused blockchain with actual chains. Progress, sort of.
The punchline? Wall Street still won’t touch crypto with a 10-foot pole (unless it’s a Bitcoin ETF wrapped in 200 pages of compliance paperwork). But for market makers, the risk-reward math just got simpler: fewer legal landmines, more liquidity to extract. Classic finance—always late to the party, but first at the buffet.
London-based Crypto Firm Heads to the Big Apple
Founded by Evgeny Gaevoy in 2017, the London-based organization cited the changing regulatory environment toward digital assets as a primary driver of its U.S. expansion.
Wintermute has also tapped the Blockchain Association’s senior director of government relations and institutional engagement, Ron Hammond, to serve as the crypto firm’s head of policy and advocacy.
Really excited to share that I will be moving to New York and leading as @wintermute_t’s Head of Policy and Advocacy as they expand to the US!
Appreciate @EvgenyGaevoy @emgurevich @DavidMicley entrusting me with this amazing opportunity and look forward to the work ahead! https://t.co/BSCE4tGA9V
“I am thrilled to join Wintermute, a global powerhouse in digital asset markets, as it establishes a U.S. presence at this critical moment for the digital asset industry,” commented Ron Hammond, head of policy and advocacy.
“With the regulatory climate in the U.S. becoming more constructive, we see tremendous opportunity to foster responsible innovation and deepen engagement with policymakers and industry stakeholders,” he added.
“As the U.S. policy towards digital assets and blockchain innovation has become friendlier, we were determined to act fast and establish roots in the financial capital of the world, New York City,” said Gaevoy. “We’re eager to continue our growth and play an integral role in the U.S. market.”
U.S. Crypto Regulatory Environment Begins to Shift
U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to enact crypto-friendly regulations during his second term in office, prompting a post-election crypto rally that saw Bitcoin reach an all-time high this past January.
Most recently, TRUMP tapped businessman Paul Atkins to lead the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the federal regulator responsible for governing digital asset policy.
Atkins, who previously served as SEC chair from 2002 to 2008, is widely seen as a crypto-friendly choice to spearhead the agency.
“A key priority of my Chairmanship will be to develop a rational regulatory framework for crypto asset markets that establishes clear rules of the road for the issuance, custody, and trading of crypto assets while continuing to discourage bad actors from violating the law,” Atkins said.
