Crypto.com raises $400 million from Citadel Securities at $20 billion valuation #

Crypto.com has closed a $400 million investment from Citadel Securities, the exchange announced July 16, putting its valuation at $20 billion. It is the first time the Singapore-founded platform has taken outside institutional capital in its ten-year history.

The company said it will use the proceeds to expand beyond spot cryptocurrency trading into tokenized securities, derivatives, real-world assets, and prediction markets. Crypto.com had already moved in that direction, launching a tokenized stocks feature in its main app in mid-2026 that gives retail users access to U.S. equities and exchange-traded funds.

Co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek said the deal validated the platform’s years of regulatory and technology investment. He described the scale of what lies ahead as “staggering” and said crypto is increasingly becoming the underlying infrastructure for the broader financial system. The two companies also plan to work together on liquidity provision and market structure, with Citadel Securities expected to take on a larger role as a counterparty on the exchange.

The investment adds to Citadel Securities’ existing positions in the crypto exchange sector. The firm put $200 million into U.S. exchange Kraken in November 2025, also at a $20 billion implied valuation, and co-led a $500 million funding round for Ripple. Citadel Securities President Jim Esposito has framed these moves as reflecting the convergence of traditional and digital-asset market infrastructure. The size of the equity stake was not disclosed.

Institutional engagement with digital assets has grown since U.S. regulators approved spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in January 2024, with major banks and asset managers moving into digital-asset custody, trading, and tokenization. Analysts say Crypto.com’s $20 billion valuation could serve as a benchmark if the exchange pursues a public listing.

Source: PR Newswire