Citadel Eyes Crypto Market-Making, Plans Expansion Under Trump’s Crypto Agenda

Citadel Securities, one of the world’s biggest market makers, is making a bold move into cryptocurrency. Led by Ken Griffin, the firm is shifting from its cautious stance and betting on Donald Trump’s pro-crypto policies to fuel growth in digital assets. It now plans to become a key player in the crypto market by joining major exchanges.

Citadel’s Expansion Plans

This marks a major change from Citadel’s earlier approach. The firm had mostly stayed away from crypto trading, avoiding exchanges popular with retail investors due to unclear U.S. regulations. However, a recent Bloomberg report says Citadel now aims to provide market-making services on platforms like Coinbase, Binance, and Crypto.com.

Once approved, Citadel plans to expand its market-making operations beyond the U.S. Until now, the firm avoided major crypto exchanges, especially after FTX’s 2022 collapse raised concerns over conflicts of interest and fund mismanagement.

However, Citadel has already made its first move into institutional crypto trading, teaming up with Charles Schwab and Fidelity to launch EDX Markets, an exchange focused on institutional investors.

Pushing for Clearer Crypto Regulations

Like many financial firms, Citadel is calling for clearer rules on institutional crypto trading. The firm wants to bring liquidity and efficiency to digital assets, much like it does in traditional markets such as stocks, bonds, and ETFs. But first, it needs a well-defined regulatory framework in the U.S.

Under Trump’s leadership, the financial industry is expecting more crypto activity. He has promised to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet,” pushing for new regulations, an executive order on digital assets, and a crypto task force under the SEC.

Competing with Crypto Market Leaders

Despite its success in traditional markets, Citadel has so far avoided crypto market-making, unlike firms such as Jane Street and Jump Crypto. While these companies scaled back their U.S. crypto operations due to regulatory crackdowns, they continue trading overseas.

Citadel’s crypto expansion could be the clearest sign yet that the industry is maturing.