Wintermute enters the 'crude oil derivatives' market… to support WTI CFD trading

Global crypto market maker (MM) Wintermute has entered the crude oil derivatives market.

According to CoinDesk on the 24th (local time), Wintermute Asia on the day launched an over-the-counter (OTC) product for contracts for difference (CFD) linked to West Texas Intermediate (WTI). A CFD is a type of derivative and is typically traded over the counter. CoinDesk reported that “CFDs are used to gain exposure to a wide range of assets such as gold, stocks, FX and crude oil,” adding that “trade size, tenor and margin requirements can be tailored.”

Behind Wintermute’s launch of crude oil derivatives is the recent surge in volatility in international oil prices. As last month’s Iran war flared up and volatility in global oil prices increased, demand also jumped for decentralized exchanges (DEXs) such as Hyperliquid (HYPE), which allow 24-hour derivatives trading. CoinDesk said, “As the Iran war sent oil prices surging, crypto exchanges are competing to offer around-the-clock trading services,” adding, “Most are copying Hyperliquid’s perpetual futures trading playbook.”

Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy said, “There is very strong demand to trade traditional commodities like crude oil using digital-asset infrastructure,” because “many investors have been unable to trade until traditional markets open.” He added that “if you were a Wintermute counterparty, you could have traded in response to weekend price moves before Monday’s open gap appeared, and then reacted immediately to the subsequent reversal as well.”