Wall Street Firms Bet Big on Crypto Exchange Infrastructure

Citadel Securities has invested $400 million in Crypto.com at a valuation of $20 billion, marking its first institutional funding round in ten years. The investment is part of a broader trend where Wall Street firms are backing cryptocurrency exchanges and infrastructure providers.

Jim Esposito, President of Citadel Securities, said the convergence of traditional financial markets and digital asset infrastructure is an 'exciting evolution' with potential to improve market efficiency.

Crypto.com plans to use the funding to expand its tokenized securities and derivatives offerings. The company has already added tokenized stocks to its app, giving users access to over 1,500 U.S. stocks and ETFs.

The investment in Crypto.com follows Citadel Securities' $200 million investment in Kraken at a similar valuation of $20 billion. Citadel also participated in Ripple's $500 million funding round at a valuation of $40 billion.