Morning Minute: Citadel Securities invests $400 million in Crypto.com

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analyzes and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Decrypt

GM!

Today’s most important news:

• Major cryptocurrencies fall alongside stocks as chip sell-off continues; Bitcoin at $63.2 thousand
• Citadel Securities invests $400 million in Crypto dot Com at a $20 billion valuation
• Polygon Labs announces layoffs as it focuses on blockchain payments
• Visa launches stablecoin platform supporting Open USD
• Robinhood chain rotations continue as INDEX rises, other leaders sell off

🏦 Citadel Securities invests $400 million in Crypto.com at a $20 billion valuation

Castle Securities It made a strategic investment of $400 million At Crypto.com, the Singapore-based platform is valued at $20 billion. It’s the exchange’s first institutional funding round since its founding a decade ago, and Crypto.com says the capital will fund its expansion into tokenized securities, derivatives, prediction markets and other real-world assets.

Citadel Securities, the firm founded by Ken Griffin that handles a significant share of all US stock trades, has spent years on the sidelines of cryptocurrencies and the market industry has only cautiously entered the space. This comes just eight days after Citadel dropped a long-running cryptocurrency lawsuit, so the company is clearly done with being a reluctant participant. CEO Chris Marszalek put the opportunity bluntly, saying its scale is “astonishing, as cryptocurrencies increasingly become a path to finance.”

The convergence between Wall Street and cryptocurrencies has become abundantly clear, and today alone proves it:

• Alpaca raised $135 million for tokenized equity infrastructure
• Visa has launched a stablecoin platform that supports Open USD
• Keyrock acquired BlockFills and
• DTCC put token stocks and safes into live production.

The same institutions that spent a decade rejecting cryptocurrencies are now paying money to own the infrastructure, all geared toward the same goal: tokenization and 24/7 markets. They don’t buy Bitcoin here. They buy bars.

🌎 Total crypto and markets

• Major cryptocurrencies are in the red, down 2-3%; Bitcoin -1% at $63.2 thousand; Ethereum -2.5% at $1,835; SOL -2% at $75; Hype -8% at $60
• B (+8%)CRO (+6%) and XDC (+3%) were the top drivers
• oil +2% at $81; Gold -1% at $3,997
• Stock futures Dark red as chip selling continues; Dow Jones -0.6%, Nasdaq -1.7%
• Visa Launched a stablecoin platform Support for Open USD, increasing competitive pressures on Circle as payments giants line up behind the 140-company consortium
• Alpaca It raised $135 million To build infrastructure for tokenized stocks
• Kerouac Acquired BlockFills’ trading assetsand expand the market maker’s institutional crypto business through consolidation
• An open standards body for AI payments Firedwith the goal of building a financial system for AI bots to transact autonomously, the latest push toward proxy trading
• Galaxy Launched institutional treasuries with stablecoin returnsDeFi returns are targeted at institutions seeking yield on dormant stablecoins
• Polygon Laboratories Layoffs announced As it transitions from a blockchain enterprise to a blockchain payments company, with CEO Mark Boiron saying it is in the final stage of acquiring Coinme and targeting profitability in 2027

Corporate Treasuries and ETFs

Meme Coin Tracker

• Meme leaders He was Mostly red. Dodge -2%, Sheep -1%, Baby Till, Bingo -1%, Trump -1%, Punk -8%
• Robinhood Series Codes They were mostly in the red and down another 30-50% across the board; INDEX (+85%) and RWA (+400%) were notable movers
• Solana leaders Includes Jimothy (+30x) and HBULL (+45%); ANSEM +10% to $190 million

💰 Token tracking, airdrop and protocol

🚚 What happens in NFTs?

• NFT leaders She was a little red. BANK -1% at 32 ETH, BAYC -1% at 8.87 ETH, Pudgy -4% at 4.26 ETH; Hypurr even at 188 HYPE
• Azuki (+11%) and Puppy Cup (+170%) Leading top movers