Wintermute: market maker deal terms and record
Wintermute is one of the two most active market makers in DAO governance. Olympus approved a 750 gOHM token loan in 2022; Yearn's community rejected a 350 YFI loan in 2023 with about 95% of votes against.
No legal action foundPublic deals on record: 2. · Official site
Profile
| Headquarters | London |
| Founded | 2017 |
| Deal models | loan + call option; retainer |
| Exchange coverage | 80+ |
| Notes | Reports ~$3.5T annual trading volume across CeFi and DeFi. Most active MM in DAO governance alongside GSR (5+ public deals in two years). |
Source: www.spark.money, grade 3, checked 2026-09-10.
Public deals
Olympus DAO (OHM), 2022
| Structure | token loan |
| Size | 750 gOHM |
| Option | not stated in proposal |
| Details | Approved as official MM partner; tokens transferred from community treasury as a loan. |
| Outcome | approved |
| Source | DAO governance post, grade 4, checked 2026-09-10 |
Yearn Finance (YFI), 2023
| Structure | token loan at nominal interest |
| Size | 350 YFI (~$1,980,000) |
| Term | 12 months |
| Option | n/a - loan at 0.1% interest, no option disclosed |
| Details | Loan intended for purchase and staking in a CRV pool. |
| Outcome | Rejected - ~95% of votes against |
| Source | DAO governance post, grade 4, checked 2026-09-10 |
How market-maker deals usually look
The industry default is a token loan plus a call option. Across about 40 public DAO deals, loans ran at 1% to 5% of circulating supply for 12 to 24 months, with the strike set 25% to 100% above the TGE price, median 50% (WuBlockchain and the Wallfacer deal tracker, grade 4). A second source puts loans at 0.5% to 2% of supply; we show both, because the market has no agreed norm.
Want to see what an option is worth to the desk? Try the option calculator, or read our sample term sheet review. How rarely launches disclose these deals at all: 4 of 57.
Offered terms by Wintermute or another desk? We put your term sheet next to the public deals, value the option and list the clauses to negotiate, in writing within 48 hours.
Allegations are reported as allegations, with the outcome where one exists. A written comparison against public data, not legal or investment advice. We take no money from market makers.