Citadel Securities commits $400M to Crypto.com, valuing the exchange at $20B in its first institutional round. CEO Kris Marszalek says digital currencies are becoming financial infrastructure.
Citadel Securities committed $400 million to Crypto.com, the exchange said, valuing the Singapore-based platform at $20 billion in its first institutional funding round since launching in 2016.
The investment, reported by CoinMarketCap, marks a turning point for Crypto.com, which had taken minimal outside capital despite ranking among the top global crypto exchanges. The cash will go toward expanding into tokenized securities, derivatives, and real-world asset tokenization, according to a statement from the company.
CEO Kris Marszalek called the opportunity “substantial as digital currencies progressively become the infrastructure for worldwide financial systems.” Citadel Securities President Jim Esposito described the blending of traditional finance with digital assets as “a compelling transformation that could enhance overall market efficiency.”
The deal is the latest in a string of crypto bets by Citadel. In November 2025, the market maker put $200 million into Kraken at the same $20 billion valuation. It also co-led a $500 million round in Ripple with Fortress Investment Group, pushing Ripple’s valuation to $40 billion, and has participated in multiple funding rounds for Digital Asset, the company behind the Canton blockchain. Citadel joined tokenization startup Alpaca’s $150 million Series D as well.
Crypto.com launched in 2016 as Monaco, raised about $26.7 million in a 2017 initial coin offering, and later rebranded, shifting from the MCO token to CRO in 2020. Its venture arm grew to a $500 million fund by 2022. The platform now serves both retail and institutional clients, and introduced tokenized U.S. equities and ETFs inside its app in June 2026.
Trump Media and Technology Group, the owner of Truth Social, acquired roughly 2% of circulating CRO tokens through a deal with Crypto.com, while the exchange bought $50 million of Trump Media shares. Trump Media also set up a separate entity called Trump Media Group CRO Strategy, which plans to accumulate a large CRO treasury via a SPAC transaction.
For context, Coinbase, the first major crypto exchange to go public, carries a market cap near $43 billion. Crypto.com’s $20 billion valuation puts it in the same tier of leading exchanges, though still below the U.S. giant.
Wall Street’s push into crypto infrastructure has accelerated since the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024. Citadel’s deepening portfolio of exchange and tokenization investments reflects that shift. Read more in our crypto market analysis.
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