Crypto market maker Hehmeyer announces merger with Swiss trading firm

Less than a year after going all-in on the cryptocurrency market, Chicago-based Hehmeyer Trading has announced it will merge with Swiss-based Nortide Capital AG.

The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of the year, will create a new firm called Hehmeyer Nortide AG. The merged firm will be based in Switzerland, and the deal will provide the newly created trading firm with "broader market access as well as deliver better prices," according to a press release. 

Led by veteran commodities trader Chris Hehmeyer, Hehmeyer has been offering cryptocurrency trading services since 2017. Last June, the market maker said that it would sunset its traditional brokerage and prop trading services and focus exclusively on cryptocurrency markets.

As for Nortide Capital, the firm is known for specializing in over-the-counter trading and operates in both crypto and foreign exchange markets. 

The deal points to the broader market consolidation underway in the crypto market. Crypto exchange Coinbase snapped up Tagomi in a deal that closed last year, while Japanese financial services giant SBI announced in December its purchase of crypto market maker B2C2. 

In a statement provided to The Block, Hehmeyer declined to comment on the deal's transaction value. The firms have traded a combined $2 billion in notional trading volumes a month–a figure that would put them up against larger trading firms like Genesis Global. 

"Hehmeyer saw 7X growth in notional ADV in 2020, and with the merger, the pace of growth is expected to further increase," the firm told The Block in an emailed statement.