Paradigm, Sequoia to Invest $1.15B in Citadel Securities, Bringing Trading Firm Closer to Crypto
Venture capital firms Paradigm Capital and Sequoia Capital have agreed to invest $1.15 billion in electronic trading giant Citadel Securities, Citadel announced on Tuesday.
The move brings Citadel Securities closer to crypto, as Paradigm focuses on investing in crypto and Web 3-related firms. It was co-founded by Fred Ehrsam, a co-founder of Coinbase, and Matt Huang, who previously led crypto investments at Sequoia.“We look forward to partnering with the Citadel Securities team as they extend their technology and expertise to even more markets and asset classes, including crypto,” said Huang in a statement.Citadel Securities, a sister company to the hedge fund behemoth Citadel founded by billionaire Ken Griffin, was founded in 2002 and now handles about 27% of the shares that are traded in the U.S. stock market each day, according to its website. Griffin is the chairman of Citadel Securities. A large part of that volume comes from processing trades for online brokerages such as Robinhood, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported news of the investment.Citadel Securities has thus far avoided trading cryptocurrencies because of what Griffin has called regulatory uncertainties around them, according to a recent Reuters report.The investment values Citadel Securities at roughly $22 billion. Following the funding round, Sequoia partner Alfred Lin will join the Citadel Securities board of directors.Griffin was the winning bidder in a recent Sotheby’s auction for a rare copy of the U.S. Constitution, beating out the ConstitutionDAO group. Griffin reportedly intends to donate the document to a museum.
Read more: After Being Foiled by a Billionaire, ConstitutionDAO Faces Lingering Questions