One of the world’s largest crypto exmodifys 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 creater, a Kraken spokesperson confirmed to Fortune. The investment valued the crypto exmodify 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 exmodify 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 supports shape the next chapter of digital innovation in markets,” Jim Esposito, president of Citadel Securities, stated in a statement in a press release shared with Fortune. The market creater 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 creaters is warming to digital assets.
Citadel Securities, founded by Ken Griffin, has historically avoided market-creating on crypto exmodifys or investing in digital assets, amid regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. But, after President Donald Trump assumed office in January, the company built plans to transact on exmodifys, 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, stated 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 exmodify plans to utilize 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 exmodify has often taken a back seat to its competitor Coinbase, whose brand name has built it the more recognizable crypto giant in the U.S. Still, Kraken, which tarreceives more institutional traders, has built a solid business. In the third quarter, it more than doubled year-over-year revenue to $648 million, the exmodify stated in October.
The exmodify has also built 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, stated in November when questioned about his company’s IPO plans.
Correction, Nov. 18, 2025: Ken Griffin is the founder of Citadel, not the CEO.
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