Market-making giant Citadel Securities is investing USD 400 million in Crypto.com, valuing the crypto exchange at USD 20 billion. For Crypto.com, it marks the first institutional funding round in the roughly ten-year history of the firm.
Citadel Securities is the market maker founded by billionaire Ken Griffin. It ranks among the world's largest liquidity providers for equities, options and, increasingly, digital assets. Crypto.com, meanwhile, operates a crypto exchange with wallet, card and trading services for retail and institutional clients alike. The company launched about ten years ago. It raised roughly USD 26.7 million through an ICO in 2017 under the name "Monaco". Since then, it has funded itself largely from its own resources. Until now, the exchange had avoided institutional capital. The fresh money is meant to accelerate expansion across asset classes, including tokenized securities and derivatives. The USD 20 billion valuation matches exactly the figure that Citadel set for rival Kraken in November 2025.
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First institutional funding round in Crypto.com's history
For Crypto.com, the stake taken by Citadel Securities breaks with its previous financing logic. Before this round, the exchange had raised only limited outside capital. That amounted to an early-stage round of USD 13 million, plus an undisclosed Series A and an angel round. Most of its growth, however, came from ongoing earnings. Institutional investors stayed on the sidelines. As a result, a global market maker now sits among the exchange's capital providers for the first time. CEO Kris Marszalek reads the round as validation of his own strategy. The scale of the opportunity is enormous, he said, because crypto is increasingly becoming the infrastructure of finance.
The roots reach back to 2017, when the project raised around USD 26.7 million via ICO under the name "Monaco". In 2020, the provider retired the original MCO token. It consolidated the offering through a token swap under today's CRO token. Later, Crypto.com also built its own venture-capital arm and expanded its fund to USD 500 million in 2022.
The new capital is meant to accelerate expansion across various asset classes. Tokenized securities and derivatives sit at the center of that push. As early as June 2026, the platform launched "Tokenized Stocks" in its core app. This move maps dozens of US equities and ETFs. Beyond the exchange and wallet business, Crypto.com also issues Visa prepaid and credit cards. These cards link crypto balances with everyday payments. The Citadel round now supplies the means to build out this business further.
Citadel's pattern across Kraken, Ripple and Crypto.com
The investment in Crypto.com is no isolated case. For months, Citadel Securities has been systematically building stakes across the largest crypto market infrastructure. First, the market maker invested USD 200 million in rival Kraken in November 2025. That deal came at the exact same USD 20 billion valuation. Previously, Kraken had raised USD 600 million in September 2025 at a valuation of USD 15 billion. The combined round of USD 800 million eventually served to strengthen the balance sheet ahead of a planned public listing.
Citadel maintains ties to Ripple as well. Together with Fortress Investment Group, the firm co-led a USD 500 million round that valued Ripple at USD 40 billion. Notably, that deal included a buyback clause, according to Bloomberg. Citadel may sell the shares back after three to four years at an annualized return of 10%. That option applies only if Ripple has not gone public by then. Furthermore, the market maker is a major backer of Digital Asset, the company behind the Canton blockchain. Additionally, it holds a stake in tokenization firm Alpaca, among others through its USD 150 million Series D. Across these individual holdings, a clear pattern emerges. The market maker secures access to exchanges, issuers and settlement networks along the digital-asset value chain.
"The convergence of traditional financial markets and digital asset infrastructure is an exciting development with the potential to further improve market efficiency." - Jim Esposito, President, Citadel Securities
Crypto.com's financial ties to Trump Media
Even before the Citadel round, Crypto.com had forged a politically charged capital link. Originally, the Trump Media & Technology Group acquired roughly 2% of the circulating CRO supply in 2025. That deal formed part of a strategic partnership. In return, Crypto.com bought USD 50 million worth of Trump Media shares. Both sides thereby intertwined their balance sheets. For the CRO token, that meant a prominent, politically visible partner.
The connection could extend even further. Through a SPAC merger with Yorkville Acquisition, Trump Media plans to establish CRO Strategy, Inc. The entity aims to later build a potentially multibillion-dollar CRO treasury. Such vehicles raise capital on the public market to acquire a single token and hold it permanently. As a result, the CRO token moves to the center of a listed treasury strategy. That approach mirrors the Bitcoin holdings of other companies.
Institutional capital despite the crypto bear market
The timing of the capital injection stands out. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has lost nearly 27% of its value since the start of 2026. The broad crypto market sits deep in a downturn. In total, the sector currently stands at roughly USD 2.2 to 2.3 trillion. That sits well below the all-time high of about USD 4.27 trillion from October 2025.
Institutional investors like Citadel are stepping in as buyers nonetheless. A bear market does push down token prices. Yet it does not necessarily lower the valuation of the trading venues that earn from volatility and volume. Their entry aims less at short-term price gains than at control over trading and settlement infrastructure. The USD 20 billion valuation invites comparison with listed rival Coinbase. Coinbase, the first large crypto exchange to go public, currently carries a market capitalization of USD 43 billion. Crypto.com's private valuation thus reaches a good half of that level.
Behind the commitment lies a structural trend. Banks, exchanges and asset managers are increasingly blurring the line between traditional finance and digital assets. At the same time, growing regulatory clarity and rising institutional demand are driving fresh investment. That money flows into stablecoins, custody, trading and blockchain settlement. In addition, the growing adoption of tokenized assets is advancing the mapping of traditional securities onto blockchains. Consequently, this infrastructure is becoming a strategic target for market makers like Citadel.
