Morning Minute: Citadel Securities Invests $400M in Crypto.com

Morning Minute is a daily newspaper written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not reflect those of Decrypt

GM!

Today’s top stories:

• Crypto majors fall alongside stocks as chips selloff continues; BTC at $63.2k
• Citadel Securities invests $400M in Crypto dot Com at a $20B valuation
• Polygon Labs has announced layoffs as it embarks on blockchain payments
• Visa launches stablecoin platform supports Open USD
• The volatility of the Robinhood Chain continues as the INDEX rises, some leaders are selling

🏦 Citadel Securities Invests $400M in Crypto.com at $20 Billion Value

Citadel Securities he made $400 million in Crypto.com, valuing the Singapore-based platform at $20 billion. It is the first venture capital fund since its inception a decade ago, and Crypto.com says the fund will provide additional funding for securities, derivatives, prediction markets, and other real-world assets.

Citadel Securities, a company founded by Ken Griffin that manages a large part of all US equity trading, spent many years on the crypto side and only cautiously entered the market. It comes just eight days after Citadel dropped its long-running crypto lawsuit, so the company appears to be reluctantly involved. CEO Kris Marszalek put the opportunity bluntly, saying that its growth is “amazing, because crypto is becoming a means of financing.”

The connection between Wall Street and crypto has become clear, and only today has confirmed this:

• Alpaca raised $135 million to develop tokenized infrastructure
• Visa launched stablecoin platform supports Open USD
• Keyrock acquired BlockFills, and
• DTCC placed stocks and Treasurys in production.

The same institutions that spent a decade extracting crypto are now paying to have infrastructure, and they are all pointing at the same target, the stock markets are 24/7. They are not buying Bitcoin yet. He is buying a railway.

🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets

• Large Cryptos are red, below 2-3%; BTC -1% at $63.2k; ETH -2.5% at $1,835; SOL -2% on $75; HYPE -8% on $60
• PI (+8%)CRO (+6%) and XDC (+3%) led the top performers
• Oil + 2% on $ 81; Gold -1% at $3,997
• The future they are very red when the chip selloff is going on; DOW -0.6%, Nasdaq -1.7%
• Visa founded a stablecoin platform supporting Open USD, adding more competition to Circle as payments giants target the 140-firm consortium.
• Alpaca earned $135 million to build tools for tokenized stock
• Keyrock acquired BlockFills’ assetsto grow the crypto business of market makers through consolidation
• An open source organization for AI payments he startedwith the goal of creating a financial system for AI bots to run autonomously, the latest push in the business world
• Galaxy established a stablecoin-yielding depositorytracking DeFi returns for institutions chasing yields on worthless stablecoins
• Polygon Labs he announced his resignation as it evolves from a blockchain foundation to a blockchain payment company, with CEO Marc Boiron saying it is in the final stages of acquiring Coinme and targeting profitability in 2027.

Corporate Treasuries & ETFs

Meme Coin Tracker

• Meme leaders he was especially red; DOGE -2%, SHIB -1%, PEPE even, PENGU -1%, TRUMP -1%, BONK -8%
• Robinhood signs were mostly red and down some 30-50% across the board; INDEX (+85%) and RWA (+400%) were notable movers
• Leaders of Solana included Jimmy (+30x) and HBULL (+45%); ANSEM + 10% to $190M

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

🚚 What is happening in NFTs?

• Directors of NFT they were a little red; Punks -1% at 32 ETH, BAYC -1% at 8.87 ETH, Pudgy -4% at 4.26 ETH; Hypurr’s even at 188 HYPE
• Azuki (+11%) and The Pup Cup (+170%) led the top movers