Wintermute Bets $1B on AI, Signaling Crypto's Data Center Rush ETHNews

Wintermute Trading says it will invest $1 billion over the next five years into high-frequency trading and AI data center infrastructure, according to CEO Evgeny Gaevoy. The spending will be funded entirely through retained earnings, with no debt or outside equity. Wintermute’s pivot is tied to a decline in average daily crypto trading volume from $15 billion in 2025 to $10 billion in 2026, part of a prolonged downturn. The firm said non-crypto markets currently generate 10% of revenue and aims to push that above 50% by the end of 2027, using the infrastructure to train quantitative models and expand into equities, equity options, commodities, FX, and event contracts. It also points to similar AI transitions by companies like Riot and CoreWeave.