Crypto market maker Wintermute will invest up to $1 billion over the next five years in AI data centre infrastructure and high-frequency trading as it moves to expand its traditional finance business.

On Aug. 12 local time, blockchain media outlet Cointelegraph reported that, through the investment plan, Wintermute is pursuing a strategy to raise the share of its non-crypto market activity to more than 50% of its overall business by the end of 2027. The non-crypto share currently stands at about 10%, signalling a shift away from a crypto-focused profit structure toward traditional financial markets.

It will also expand staffing. Wintermute plans to double headcount at its New York office, which will have 17 employees next year. It also plans to increase global headcount by about 40%. The plan is seen as an effort to boost trading capabilities in traditional asset markets by expanding both trading infrastructure and staff investment.

The plan aligns with a trend of crypto firms expanding into traditional finance in search of new revenue sources. As digital asset trading platforms add tokenised traditional assets in succession, Wintermute also said it would lift the non-crypto share of its business from 10% to more than 50%.

Moves by exchanges are also continuing. Coinbase, Binance and Kraken are cited as major crypto exchanges that have launched tokenised stock products. Crypto.com also announced its entry into the market on Aug. 12 by providing initial access to 1,500 stocks and funds based on underlying assets.

Traditional finance firms are also expanding experiments in tokenised securities. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved Nasdaq's pilot proposal in March, allowing support for trading tokenised versions of heavily traded stocks and securities. On March 24, the New York Stock Exchange teamed up with tokenisation platform Securitize and began developing blockchain-based trading infrastructure that includes tokenised stakes in stocks and exchange-traded funds.

Against that backdrop, Wintermute's investment plan can be seen as an example of a crypto-native firm moving in earnest into trading infrastructure and liquidity provision in traditional financial markets. The company plans to focus funding on AI data centres and high-frequency trading, double its New York headcount and strengthen its response to the U.S. market. Cointelegraph said it has requested additional explanation from Wintermute, but the company has not yet disclosed detailed execution plans.