Citadel Securities backs Crypto.com with $400M at $20B valuation
VC & Fundraising ·
The market maker's investment marks the first time Crypto.com has taken institutional funding, putting a fresh valuation on the exchange as it broadens beyond retail trading.
Citadel Securities has put $400 million into Crypto.com, valuing the platform at $20 billion, according to The Block. The deal is described as the exchange's first institutional funding round, a notable shift for a company that built its early growth largely through retail products like its Visa card and app rather than outside capital. Following news of the raise, Crypto.com's native token CRO climbed roughly 25%, a move flagged by CryptoPotato as a direct market reaction to the funding.
The transaction also surfaced in reporting from WuBlockchain, adding to the cluster of coverage confirming the same terms: a $400 million check at a $20 billion valuation. Multiple outlets have described the round consistently, pointing to a single, well-corroborated event rather than a rumor still being pieced together.
The investment lands as Crypto.com has been pushing into new territory well beyond its original exchange and card business. The platform has moved into prediction markets through a partnership branded High Roller, positioning itself against established event-contract venues, and has separately struck a payments partnership with South Korea's KG Inicis to let tourists spend digital assets. It has also pursued expansion into UAE government payments. Institutional capital of this size gives the company a war chest and a market-set valuation as it stretches its business lines across exchange trading, card products, DeFi infrastructure via its Cronos chain, and now prediction markets.
Not addressed in current reporting is what Citadel Securities receives in exchange for the $400 million beyond an equity stake implied by the valuation, or whether the firm will take any operational or governance role at Crypto.com. It also remains unclear whether this round is a one-time strategic investment or the first in a series of institutional raises, and how the capital will be allocated across the company's expanding set of products, including its prediction-markets push and its recent enterprise-wide shift toward AI-driven operations.