One of the world’s largest crypto exchanges has raised a huge stash of capital from a blue chip financial titan. The Wyoming-based Kraken secured $200 million in a strategic investment from Citadel Securities, the nearly 25-year-old market maker, a Kraken spokesperson confirmed to Fortune. The investment valued the crypto exchange at $20 billion.
The round comes shortly after Kraken closed an earlier round of financing in September in which it raised $600 million at a $15 billion valuation from a fleet of Wall Street and Silicon Valley mainstays including Jane Street, DRW, HSG (formerly known as Sequoia Capital China), Oppenheimer, Tribe Capital, and the family office of Arjun Sethi, Kraken’s co-CEO.
The Kraken spokesperson also publicly confirmed the $600 million round of financing for the first time. Bloomberg first reported in September that the crypto exchange was considering a new raise at a $20 billion valuation from a strategic investor.
“We’re excited to support Kraken’s continued growth as it helps shape the next chapter of digital innovation in markets,” Jim Esposito, president of Citadel Securities, said in a statement in a press release shared with Fortune. The market maker will work with Kraken on risk management and market structure analysis, among other efforts, according to the release.
Warming to digital assets
The investment from Citadel into Kraken is one of the clearest signs yet that one of the U.S.’s largest market makers is warming to digital assets.
Citadel Securities, founded by Ken Griffin, has historically avoided market-making on crypto exchanges or investing in digital assets, amid regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. But, after President Donald Trump assumed office in January, the company made plans to transact on exchanges, including Coinbase, Binance, and Crypto.com, reported Bloomberg in February.
And earlier this month, Ripple, the long-standing blockchain company closely associated with the cryptocurrency XRP, said it raised $500 million from Citadel, the asset manager Fortress Investment Group, and other investors.
Meanwhile, the $800 million Kraken raised across its two recent rounds of financing further solidifies the company’s balance sheet before its planned IPO next year. The exchange plans to use the additional cash to expand into markets outside North America as well as develop new payments products, among other priorities, according to a press release shared with Fortune. Prior to the two rounds, Kraken had raised only $27 million in venture capital.
Founded in 2011, the crypto exchange has often taken a back seat to its competitor Coinbase, whose brand name has made it the more recognizable crypto giant in the U.S. Still, Kraken, which targets more institutional traders, has built a solid business. In the third quarter, it more than doubled year-over-year revenue to $648 million, the exchange said in October.
The exchange has also made a series of splashy acquisitions since January, including its $1.5 billion purchase of the futures trading platform NinjaTrader.
“We have enough capital on our balance sheet today as a private company, and we don’t want to race to the door as quickly as possible,” Sethi, the Kraken co-CEO, said in November when asked about his company’s IPO plans.
Correction, Nov. 18, 2025: Ken Griffin is the founder of Citadel, not the CEO.
