Five crypto-native firms now hold or control U.S. broker-dealer registrations with the SEC and FINRA, up from one at the start of 2025. Wintermute USA LLC completed its registration on August 6, 2026, joining Ripple (via Hidden Road), GSR (via Equilibrium Capital Services), Crypto.com (via Watchd...
"The firms that succeed will be those that have technical and operational know-how to operate in both [digital and traditional markets]." — Evgeny Gaevoy, CEO, Wintermute
Five crypto-native firms now hold or control U.S. broker-dealer registrations with the SEC and FINRA, up from one at the start of 2025. Wintermute USA LLC completed its registration on August 6, 2026, joining Ripple (via Hidden Road), GSR (via Equilibrium Capital Services), Crypto.com (via Watchdog Capital), and Coinbase in possessing the regulatory plumbing required to trade traditional U.S. securities. The same week, Coinbase launched zero-commission trading in nearly 4,000 U.S. equities for UK retail customers under a new FCA investment-services license.
The pattern is structural: crypto market makers and exchanges are no longer content to operate in parallel to Wall Street. They are acquiring the same licenses, seeking the same exchange memberships, and targeting the same institutional counterparties. The economic logic is straightforward — crypto-native firms already run low-latency matching engines and 24/7 settlement infrastructure. Adding equities, options, and ETFs to that stack is an incremental cost, not a rebuild.
Wintermute USA LLC, the New York-based affiliate of crypto market maker Wintermute, registered as a broker-dealer with the SEC and became a FINRA member on August 6, 2026, according to a company press release and FINRA filings. The registration was 18 months in preparation.
The scope of the registration permits Wintermute USA to:
The unit does not handle customer funds and will not serve retail clients. It operates strictly as a proprietary trading firm.
Wintermute processes over $10 billion in average daily trading volume across more than 60 exchanges, according to BitKE, citing company data. In 2025, the firm handled approximately $3.5 trillion in total volume. CEO Evgeny Gaevoy stated the firm intends to challenge established market makers including Jump Trading, Jane Street, and Citadel Securities "within three to five years."
The initial focus will be crypto-linked markets — particularly acting as an AP for Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, a function currently dominated by traditional finance firms. Wintermute plans to scale into tokenized equities pending further regulatory approvals.
Wintermute built its broker-dealer from scratch. Most crypto firms have chosen the faster route: buying existing license holders.
Ripple / Hidden Road ($1.25 billion, completed 2025-2026): Ripple acquired prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, the largest such deal in digital asset history. Hidden Road held a FINRA broker-dealer registration and cleared approximately $3 trillion annually across all markets, serving 300 institutional clients. Post-acquisition, the unit was rebranded as Ripple Prime. Since the deal closed, Ripple Prime's business has grown threefold, according to Ripple.
GSR / Equilibrium Capital Services (completed June 2026): Crypto market maker GSR received FINRA approval in June 2026 to complete its acquisition of Portland-based Equilibrium Capital Services, a small SEC-registered broker-dealer. The acquired firm now operates as GSR Securities. Forbes reported the acquisition price was in the low six figures — the strategic value was the license, not the existing business.
Crypto.com / Watchdog Capital (announced October 2024): Crypto.com acquired Watchdog Capital LLC, a Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA and SIPC. The acquisition enables Crypto.com to offer U.S. equities and equity options to eligible traders alongside its crypto products.
| Firm | Target | Price | Status | Scope | |------|--------|-------|--------|-------| | Ripple | Hidden Road | $1.25B | Completed; rebranded Ripple Prime | Multi-asset prime brokerage | | GSR | Equilibrium Capital | Low six figures | FINRA approved June 2026 | Broker-dealer (GSR Securities) | | Crypto.com | Watchdog Capital | Undisclosed | Completed | Equities & options for U.S. users | | Wintermute | Built from scratch | N/A | Registered August 2026 | Proprietary trading, ETF AP | | Coinbase | Organic (already registered) | N/A | Active | Full retail + institutional |
The total capital deployed on broker-dealer acquisitions by crypto firms exceeds $1.25 billion. The trend is one-directional: no major crypto firm has divested a broker-dealer license since 2024.
While U.S. crypto firms acquire broker-dealers domestically, Coinbase is executing the convergence strategy internationally. On August 6, 2026, Coinbase launched zero-commission trading in nearly 4,000 U.S. equities for UK retail users through its existing app.
Key parameters of the launch:
CEO Brian Armstrong stated: "Every Coinbase UK user can now trade US stocks, and crypto in one single app. Zero commission, 24/5 access, with as little as £1."
Coinbase is the first crypto-native platform to offer regulated traditional equity access to British retail investors at scale. The company has indicated plans to offer tokenized equities to UK users in the future — blockchain-native representations of U.S. stocks backed 1:1, carrying full shareholder rights including dividends, and tradeable 24/7.
This follows Coinbase's broader "Everything Exchange" strategy articulated in early 2026, which aims to unify crypto, equities, and other financial products under a single regulated umbrella.
The broker-dealer push by crypto firms is occurring alongside parallel infrastructure buildout in tokenized securities by traditional exchanges:
Nasdaq (March 2026): The SEC approved Nasdaq's rule amendment (SR-NASDAQ-2025-072) enabling the trading of tokenized securities under the DTC tokenization pilot. Eligible securities include components of the Russell 1000 index and ETFs tracking the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100. Tokenized and traditional shares use the same CUSIP, identical order books, and T+1 settlement.
NYSE/ICE + OKX (June 2026): Intercontinental Exchange, parent of the NYSE, and crypto exchange OKX formed a 50-50 joint venture called OKXICE to offer tokenized NYSE equities and ICE futures to OKX's user base. The venture, co-chaired by former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and ICE SVP Trabue Bland, plans to register as a U.S. broker-dealer and futures commission merchant. ICE invested in OKX at a $25 billion valuation. Rollout is planned for H2 2026.
SEC Regulatory Framework: In December 2025, the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets granted DTC no-action relief for a three-year tokenization pilot program. In April 2026, the SEC issued further guidance clearing a path for decentralized crypto asset security trading with a broker registration exception for certain user interfaces.
The convergence is bidirectional. Traditional exchanges are tokenizing equities. Crypto firms are acquiring the licenses to trade them. The net effect is a compression of the structural gap between the two market types.
The economics are not subtle. Crypto-native firms operate technology stacks built for 24/7 uptime, sub-second execution, and global settlement. These capabilities translate directly to equities trading with marginal additional cost.
Revenue diversification. Crypto trading revenue is cyclical. Robinhood's Q2 2026 results illustrate the point: total revenue hit a record $1.31 billion, but crypto transaction revenue fell 38% to $100 million, while prediction markets alone generated $156 million. Firms with equities capabilities can offset crypto downturns.
ETF authorized participation. As of August 2026, U.S. spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs represent tens of billions in assets under management. The AP function — creating and redeeming ETF shares — has been controlled by traditional firms. Wintermute's broker-dealer registration positions it to compete for this fee stream directly.
Tokenized securities pipeline. With Nasdaq running tokenized trading and ICE/OKX targeting H2 2026 for launch, crypto firms with broker-dealer licenses will be positioned to provide liquidity in tokenized equities from day one. Firms without the license will be locked out.
Institutional client demand. Hidden Road's 300 institutional clients and $3 trillion in annual clearing volume demonstrate that institutional appetite for crypto-native prime brokerage already exists. Adding traditional securities to the product set deepens the relationship and increases switching costs.
The structural boundary between crypto markets and traditional securities markets is dissolving from both sides. Crypto firms are acquiring or building the regulatory scaffolding — broker-dealer licenses, FINRA memberships, FCA authorizations — needed to operate on Wall Street's terms. Simultaneously, the NYSE, Nasdaq, and the DTC are building tokenization infrastructure that maps traditional securities onto blockchain rails.
The near-term question is execution. Wintermute's stated ambition to rival Citadel in 3-5 years requires not just a license but the balance sheet, risk management, and institutional relationships that take decades to build. The low-six-figure price GSR paid for its broker-dealer license reflects a reality: the license is table stakes, not a competitive moat.
What matters economically is whether these firms can translate their technology advantage — always-on infrastructure, crypto-native settlement, global reach — into sustained market share in equities and ETF liquidity provision. The data so far suggests the bet is rational. The outcome remains to be determined.