London-based algorithmic crypto trading firm Wintermute plans to expand into the US market, starting with an office in New York.
On Feb. 19, Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy disclosed the shift in the company’s business expansion plans, which have predominantly focused on the Asian markets. “Now we have a new focus on the US,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg — citing hopes for favorable crypto regulations.
Under the Trump administration, Gaevoy anticipates numerous charges to be dropped against crypto protocols and securities and other cases in the short term.
Following the lead of US regulations
Gaevoy anticipates that several regulatory charges against crypto firms and protocols could be dropped in the short term under the more pro-crypto administration of US President Donald Trump. He also suggested that the US could set a precedent for global crypto regulations.
“We are looking to expand in the US with our OTC offering, we are looking to expand in the US with derivatives as well on the OTC side.”
Wintermute plans to open a New York office with an initial headcount of five to 10 people “primarily on the business development side and a bit on the operational side,” he said.
Gaevoy confirmed that Wintermute will not be hiring for trading roles in its US office.
Related: Crypto crash triggered by TradFi events, says Wintermute CEO
Memecoins’ impact on crypto
Gaevoy also commented on the growing memecoin ecosystem, describing it as “a big drag on crypto.” According to him, memecoins take up liquidity from existing projects. Sharing an example of the Trump memecoin, Gaevoy explained:
“When Trump token launched, it went up to pretty significant market cap. But it basically saw a massive sell-off on pretty much all (other) memecoins on Solana.”
Wintemute’s CEO said that this phenomenon — “when a new token gets launched, it drains liquidity from the existing ones” — poses a challenge to growing the space as a whole.
However, he added that price declines in new tokens are part of a typical lifecycle and not influenced by platforms like Binance or Wintermute.
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