PEPENODE presale debuts with 596% yield as market declines. The cryptocurrency 
market capitalization decreased 3.5% in the past 24 hours, according to market 
data reported Monday. Bitcoin (BTC) declined 13% over the past week and 
dropped 0.5% year-over-year, according to…

PEPENODE offers virtual mining rigs in token presale

Kraken raises $800 million to accelerate onchain traditional finance, with 
Citadel Securities investing $200 million at a $20 billion valuation. Kraken 
announced on November 18, 2025 that it has raised $800 million across two 
tranches to advance its strategy of bringing traditional financial products 
onchain, with the primary tranche led by institutional investors including 
Jane […]

Kraken Raises $800 Million; Citadel Securities Commits $200 Million at $20B Valuation

XRP slid to $2.12, hitting a six-week low as trading activity cooled and 
profit-taking weighed on the market ahead of key exchange-traded fund 
launches. XRP is trading at $2.13, down 1% in the last 24 hours. The token has 
been…

XRP price slides to 6-week low around $2.12 as market rejects recovery attempts

The US-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken recently secured a substantial 
$200 million investment from Citadel Securities, a global market maker. This 
investment values the exchange at an impressive $20 billion. Kraken&#8217;s Growth 
Backed By Citadel Securities Citadel Securities has expressed enthusiasm about 
supporting Kraken&#8217;s growth, emphasizing the firm&#8217;s role in shaping the future 
landscape of digital innovation within markets. Related Reading: Bitcoin Price 
Alert: This Indicator Signals SELL, Could History Repeat With A 67% Drop? Jim 
Esposito, president of Citadel Securities, highlighted their commitment to 
collaborating with Kraken on risk management and market structure analysis, 
among other strategic initiatives. This capital infusion comes on the heels of 
a previous financing round back in September of this year, during which the 
digital asset platform successfully raised $600 million at a $15 billion 
valuation. Investors in this earlier round included Wall Street entities such 
as Jane Street, DRW, HSG (formerly known as Sequoia Capital China), 
Oppenheimer, Tribe Capital, and the family office of Arjun Sethi, who serves 
as the exchange’s co-CEO. IPO Plans Unhurried Despite Strong Figures Kraken&#8217;s 
fundraising efforts, totaling $800 million across its two recent financing 
rounds, have significantly strengthened the company&#8217;s financial position ahead 
of its planned initial public offering (IPO) in the upcoming year. Related 
Reading: Crypto Market Wipes Out $1 Trillion Since October: Analyzing The 
Forces Behind The Crash However, last week, Bitcoinist reported that Kraken 
has no plans to speed up its initial public offering, backed by robust 
financial figures. In a Yahoo Finance interview, Sethi stated, “We have enough 
capital on our balance sheet as a private company. We don’t race to the door 
as quickly as possible.” Arjun Sethi previously emphasized the importance of 
maintaining a prudent approach, ensuring that the company&#8217;s financial 
foundation remains robust and poised for sustainable growth. In the wake of 
the recent funding, Sethi stated: This investment represents long-term 
conviction in Kraken’s mission to build trusted, regulated infrastructure for 
the open financial system. Our focus has always been straightforward: to 
create a platform where anyone can trade any asset, anytime, anywhere. The 
exchange also disclosed substantial revenue growth in the third quarter of the 
year, reaching $648 million. Yet, its closest competitor, Coinbase—the largest 
exchange in the country—reported revenue growth of $1.9 billion. Kraken&#8217;s 
recent acquisitions, including its $1.5 billion purchase of the futures 
trading platform NinjaTrader, are further examples of the exchange&#8217;s strategic 
expansion efforts this year. Looking ahead, the exchange revealed in a blog 
post: We plan to enter new markets across Latin America, Asia Pacific and 
EMEA, while broadening our offerings beyond crypto to include additional asset 
classes, advanced trading tools and staking solutions, expanded payment 
services and enhanced institutional capabilities. Featured image from DALL-E, 
chart from TradingView.com

Kraken Achieves $20 Billion Valuation With $200 Million Investment From Citadel

Amid the second wave of crypto-based Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Solana 
(SOL)-based investment products have been leading the charge, fueled by strong 
demand despite the recent market volatility. As a new group of investment 
products based on the altcoin hits the market and SOL’s price starts to 
recover, some suggest that a rebound could be underway. Related Reading: 
Analyst Shares Worst-Case Scenario For Bitcoin (BTC) As Price Shows Concerning 
Signs Solana ETFs Take Over The second wave of Solana ETFs has arrived in the 
market after the successful launch of SOL-based investment products. On 
Monday, VanEck debuted its Solana ETF (VSOL) on Nasdaq, becoming the third 
investment product based on the altcoin to launch over the past month. 
According to the announcement, the firm is waiving its 0.30% fee on the first 
$1 billion in assets under management (AUM) or until February 17, 2026. 
Meanwhile, its third-party staking provider will also waive its fee for 
staking services under the same conditions. Adding to the momentum, Fidelity 
and Canary Capital launched their FSOL and SOLC ETFs on Tuesday, after 
recently filing 8-A forms with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 
Senior Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas noted that Fidelity is “easily the 
biggest asset manager in this category with BlackRock sitting out,” adding 
that it is “Game on” with the other launches. Meanwhile, Nate Geraci also 
highlighted the new launch, but expressed surprise that BlackRock is “sitting 
this one out” as many anticipate a successful performance. Notably, Bitwise 
and Grayscale debuted their BSOL and GSOL ETFs at the end of October, 
registering a record-breaking performance since their launch. Farside Invest 
data shows that SOL-based investment products have recorded over $390 million 
in inflows, with 15 consecutive trading days of positive net flows, signaling 
strong institutional demand for the products. In a Tuesday X post, Bitwise’s 
CEO, Hunter Horsley, noted BSOL’s positive performance despite the market 
correction, affirming that “prices are in the eye of the beholder.” “ETF 
investors continue to buy the dip. Grateful for the trust in Bitwise to 
steward investor assets,” he added. Institutional Demand To Fuel SOL’s 
Rebound? Amid the Tuesday launches, SOL’s price bounced 8.4% from its five- 
month low of $128, recorded on Monday. The cryptocurrency has declined 12% 
over the past month, losing crucial levels during the market correction. 
However, Bybit recently suggested that the newly launched investment products 
could reshape “its price trajectory and market structure for years to come.” 
In a recent report, the crypto exchange’s analysts noted that the altcoin 
joined Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) as one of the few digital assets with 
regulated brokerage access in the US. This “represents a structural shift in 
how SOL is accessed, traded and perceived,” significantly expanding SOL’s 
investor base and confidence. “If historical patterns hold, Solana could be on 
the cusp of a multi-quarter rally that redefines its position in the crypto 
hierarchy,” the exchange affirmed. Analyst Ted Pillows pointed out SOL’s price 
action, calling it “one of the worst-performing large caps recently.” However, 
he argued that, because of this, most of its downside liquidity has already 
been taken out, with “decent liquidity clusters around the $170-$200 level.” 
Related Reading: Crypto Market Wipes Out $1 Trillion Since October: Analyzing 
The Forces Behind The Crash To analysts, if the market starts to recover and 
stabilizes, Solana could rally 20%-40% to retest this area. Meanwhile, Daan 
Crypto Trades affirmed that SOL is “putting in quite the reversal relative to 
its BTC pair,” as the cryptocurrency has broken out of a three-week downtrend 
against Bitcoin after some failed attempts. As of this writing, Solana is 
trading at $141, a 25.3% decline in the monthly timeframe. Featured Image from 
Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

Cryptocurrency price in VEF