The company confirmed its bet on the crypto space with its latest investment partners.
Citadel Securities announced that VC firms Sequoia and Paradigm made a $1.15 billion combined minority investment in the market maker, bringing its valuation to $22 billion. The partnership with Paradigm, a Web3-focused investor, signaled Citadel Securities’ shift toward new asset classes such as crypto.
Sequoia, who led the round, with investment from Sequoia Heritage, Sequoia Capital Global Equities and the Global Growth Fund, will also get a seat on the Citadel Securities Board of Directors for Sequoia Partner Alfred Lin.
According to a statement, Citadel Securities will use the funds to further its growth of new products, markets and regions. Citadel Securities CEO Peng Zhao said:
“As technological innovation in financial markets becomes only more important, we see enormous opportunities to meet the needs of our clients across more markets and more products. Our partnership with Sequoia and Paradigm puts us in an even stronger position.”
Historically, Ken Griffin has been as crypto skeptic, even claiming that crypto was “a jihadist call that we don’t believe in the dollar” only a few months ago. The arm of hedge fund Citadel is clearly embracing its expansion into cryptocurrency.