IMC Trading is a global proprietary trading firm and market maker headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1989, the firm has grown from a Dutch options trading desk into one of the largest electronic market makers in the world, active across equities, ETFs, derivatives, fixed income, commodities, and – since the mid-2010s – digital assets. IMC operates trading desks in Amsterdam, Chicago, Sydney, and Hong Kong, and processes millions of trades per day across more than 100 exchanges and venues globally. The firm is entirely privately held and does not disclose assets under management or overall revenue figures.
IMC entered the crypto space not as a traditional venture investor but as a market maker – providing liquidity on digital asset exchanges and functioning as a strategic participant in blockchain infrastructure projects. Over time, this operational presence evolved into direct investment activity, with IMC backing networks and protocols where it also plays an active market-making or validator role. This dual positioning – funder and operational participant – distinguishes IMC from pure-play crypto venture funds.
Notable investments
- Wormhole – IMC participated in the cross-chain messaging protocol's ecosystem development as a strategic partner and guardian node operator.
- Pyth Network – IMC is one of the founding data publishers contributing real-time price feeds to the Pyth oracle network on Solana and beyond.
- Sei Network – IMC participated in early funding rounds for this order-book-native Layer 1 blockchain, aligning with the firm's core expertise in exchange microstructure.
Public information on the full scope of IMC's venture portfolio is limited. The firm does not publish an investment portfolio page, and deal participation is often disclosed only through project announcements rather than IMC press releases. Several additional investments in DeFi infrastructure and trading primitives are reported but not officially confirmed.
Team
IMC Trading was founded in Amsterdam in 1989 by a group of Dutch derivatives traders. The firm is structured as a partnership and has historically avoided public-facing executive branding. Specific managing partners responsible for crypto venture activity are not publicly identified. IMC's crypto and fintech investment decisions are understood to sit within the firm's broader strategic capital function rather than a standalone venture vehicle. Public information about individual partners or deal leads is limited.
Recent activity
Through 2024 and into 2025, IMC continued expanding its role in crypto market infrastructure. The firm deepened its participation in Solana ecosystem projects, consistent with its market-making presence on Solana-based exchanges and DEX aggregators. IMC also increased engagement with institutional-grade DeFi protocols that require professional liquidity providers. No major public investment announcements were made during this window, which is consistent with the firm's historically low media profile.
IMC has not experienced any publicly disclosed high-profile investment failures. Its approach – backing projects where it also operates as a liquidity provider – reduces pure speculative risk, though it concentrates exposure to market structure and regulatory changes in digital asset trading. As crypto markets mature and institutional market-making becomes more competitive, IMC's edge will likely depend on how quickly it adapts to on-chain liquidity venues, including perpetual DEXs and intent-based trading systems. The firm's deep engineering talent and decades of market microstructure experience position it well for that shift, though its closed communications style makes external assessment difficult.
For further background, see IMC's official website and coverage via Crunchbase.
