Citadel Securities Has Now Bought Into Two Crypto Exchanges…

Citadel Securities, the largest U.S. equities market maker, has poured $600 million into two major crypto exchanges within eight months, marking a strategic bet on the convergence of traditional and digital financial infrastructure.

In the latest deal, announced July 16, 2026, Citadel Securities invested $400 million in Crypto.com at a $20 billion valuation. The all-equity, single-investor round was Crypto.com’s first institutional funding in its decade-long history, following only small early-stage rounds and a 2017 ICO. Prior to this, the exchange had raised roughly $13 million in early funding and $26.7 million through its Monaco-branded ICO.

The Crypto.com investment came months after Citadel Securities committed $200 million to Kraken in November 2025, also at a $20 billion valuation. Kraken’s broader $600 million primary round earlier in September 2025 had valued the exchange at $15 billion, with the strategic tranche from Citadel Securities at the higher price. Both exchanges plan to use the capital to expand into tokenized securities, derivatives, and multi-asset trading.

“The convergence of traditional financial markets and digital asset infrastructure is an exciting evolution with the potential to further improve market efficiency,” said Jim Esposito, President of Citadel Securities, in a statement. Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek called the opportunity “staggering” and noted that crypto is increasingly becoming “the rails for finance.”

Citadel Securities previously entered crypto cautiously, co-founding the institutional exchange EDX Markets in 2022 alongside Fidelity, Charles Schwab, and others. The equity stakes in Kraken and Crypto.com represent a different approach: gaining access to retail order flow, established licenses, and a role in building tokenized equity and derivatives products that require institutional-grade price formation.

The investments stand in contrast to the decline of early crypto exchange BitMEX, which announced July 23 it would shut down in September 2026 after trading volume dropped to under $400,000 daily. The market is consolidating around platforms that can bridge into traditional financial products.

Neither Citadel Securities investment disclosed ownership stakes or governance rights. Kraken’s parent Payward was valued at approximately $13.3 billion in a Deutsche Börse-led secondary transaction in April 2026, showing how valuations vary by deal structure. The success of the strategy depends on whether tokenized equities pass regulatory muster and attract genuine volume, not just institutional capital.