Citadel Securities Hires Former Wintermute Executive

Citadel Securities hired former Wintermute executive Willis Croft as head of business development for digital assets. Croft joined the firm in October.

He previously served as director of business development and partnerships at Wintermute, a cryptocurrency-focused algorithmic trading firm. Before that, he was a vice president at Genesis, the digital-asset trading business that ceased operations in 2023.

Citadel Securities outlined plans in early 2025 to provide liquidity to major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase and Binance. The firm later began supplying liquidity to Kraken, in which it invested $200 million in November 2025.

The market maker is recruiting systematic cryptocurrency traders for its digital-assets division. Recent job postings describe the business as fast-growing and seek candidates with experience trading on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges and developing systematic trading strategies.

The expansion follows earlier skepticism about cryptocurrencies from Citadel Securities founder Ken Griffin.