Citadel Writes Crypto.com a $400M Check, Wall Street Finally Reads the Memo 🏦

Crypto.com announced Thursday that Citadel Securities has invested $400 million in the Singapore-based exchange at a $20 billion valuation, marking the crypto platform's first institutional funding round in its ten-year history. Founded in 2016, Crypto.com said the capital will accelerate its expansion across "all asset classes, including tokenized securities and derivatives."

Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com, said the deal reflects the scale of what's ahead. "The size of the opportunity in front of us is staggering, as crypto increasingly becomes the rails for finance," he said, adding that the company is "thrilled to work with Citadel Securities to continue driving the crypto industry into a new era of institutionalization." Citadel Securities President Jim Esposito framed the partnership similarly, saying "the convergence of traditional financial markets and digital asset infrastructure is an exciting evolution with the potential to further improve market efficiency."

The investment deepens Citadel Securities' footprint in digital-asset infrastructure. The Ken Griffin-founded market maker, which handles a large share of U.S. equity trading, invested $200 million in rival exchange Kraken last November alongside Jane Street. Intercontinental Exchange, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, has taken a stake in OKX, while Nasdaq invested $50 million in Gemini. The deal lands eight days after Citadel dropped a long-running crypto lawsuit, signaling a full pivot from courtroom combat to capital deployment.

Crypto.com ranks 11th among exchanges by trading volume, according to CoinMarketCap, and offers crypto, stocks and prediction markets to retail traders. The company received conditional approval for a U.S. national trust bank charter in February. The exchange has also built close political ties: it is a business partner and investor in Trump Media & Technology Group and has donated $35 million to MAGA Inc. over the past year, including a $5 million contribution in January, according to FEC filings.