Crypto Market Insights from Wintermute

Crypto market maker Wintermute announced that its over-the-counter (OTC) trade volumes quadrupled in 2024, primarily due to rising institutional demand for cryptocurrency.

In its year-end report, Wintermute revealed that OTC volumes increased by 313%, surpassing the 142% growth of the overall crypto exchange market. The number of trades also experienced a 250% increase compared to 2023.

Notably, the highest single-day OTC trade volume last year peaked at $2.24 billion, significantly higher than the $2 billion record achieved over a week in 2023.

This growth reflects enhanced engagement from institutional investors. Key factors such as the approval of spot crypto ETFs and strengthening political support for clearer regulations are lowering barriers for traditional finance, as noted in the report.

> “This regulatory clarity catalyzed unprecedented institutional engagement and capital inflows, fostering a rapidly growing trading ecosystem that increasingly interconnects with traditional finance,” Wintermute stated.

The report also highlighted a 300% rise in OTC derivatives volume, as institutions gravitated towards more advanced instruments for yield and risk management.

Interestingly, Wintermute noted that traditional finance players have shown greater interest in memecoins, which experienced a substantial surge in 2024. The share of memecoins in Wintermute’s OTC spot volume rose from 7.3% in 2023 to 16.2%, while the percentage of major cryptocurrencies fell from 67.9% to 58.7%.

Bitcoin Reserves and Memecoin ETFs

Looking to 2025, Evgeny Gaevoy, CEO of Wintermute Group, anticipates even greater momentum as crypto further integrates into global financial infrastructure via ETFs, corporate holdings, tokenization, and the emergence of structured products.

Wintermute’s end-of-year report predicts a decline in price volatility driven by increased market participation and trade volume. It also forecasts the normalization of call skews with the growth of bitcoin and ether ETF options among other products.

With pro-crypto President-elect Donald Trump taking office soon, Wintermute expects this new administration to alleviate regulatory uncertainty for cryptocurrencies, potentially classifying them as commodities. One of Trump’s notable crypto policy commitments includes establishing a national strategic bitcoin reserve, which may prompt China, UAE, and Europe to follow suit.

The company anticipates the launch of more crypto ETF products this year, such as multi-asset crypto ETFs and products closely aligned with specific categories of crypto, including DeFi tokens and memecoins.

> “In 2025, a core asset manager will launch a memecoin ETF,” Wintermute asserted, emphasizing the likelihood of a Dogecoin ETF.

Additionally, on Thursday, Nasdaq filed a 19b-4 form on behalf of Canary Capital for its spot Litecoin ETF, following an amended S-1 form filing. This suggests that Litecoin could become the first altcoin ETF this year.

Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas remarked on X, “Litecoin ETF now has all the boxes checked. I don’t see any reason why this would be withdrawn either, given the SEC provided comments on the S-1. Litecoin is viewed as a commodity, and there’s a new SEC sheriff in town.”