Wintermute Ventures invests in Vertex Protocol

June 22, 2023 - Wintermute Ventures, the venture arm of Leading digital assets market maker Wintermute, has made a strategic investment in Vertex Protocol, a decentralised exchange (DEX) for digital asset spot and derivatives trading.

This move will see both firms deepen each other’s ties across various business lines and includes Wintermute providing liquidity to the Vertex Protocol exchange.

“Wintermute is a leader in our industry, and we are excited to be working with them,” said Darius Tabatabai, co-founder at Vertex Protocol. “Their expertise and reputation are a great compliment to the other partners we have lined up and show that there is still great demand for DEXs.”

Vertex Protocol launched on Arbitrum in April this year and, in just under two months, has traded more than $1 billion in aggregate volume across both spot and perpetuals trading, making it one of the fastest-growing trading venues in the industry and a top 20 DEX globally.

"Vertex Protocol meets the market's growing demand for noncustodial trading solutions while also possessing the efficiency of centralised exchanges," says Tim Wu, Head of DeFi at Wintermute. "Their rapid growth reflects this trend, and their robust infrastructure is a good fit for large trading firms like us."

Through the first quarter of this year, DEX trading volumes rose significantly to surpass $133 billion; and a recent Uniswap survey found that nearly 30 percent of traders not currently engaging with DeFi platforms are more likely to use them this year because they are eager to hold their own crypto in the wake of last year’s events. Additionally, 31 percent of respondents claimed better pricing on a trade was the main factor in moving their assets on-chain.