Looking ahead a decade: The crypto journey of traditional financial giant SIG

Original author: Zen, PANews

From his initial foray into poker and horse racing betting to the creation of a quantitative trading firm, billionaire Jeff Yaas founded Susquehanna International Group (SIG) in 1987. Starting with proprietary capital trading, SIG has now become one of the largest market makers for US-listed stock options, providing stock and derivatives liquidity in more than 50 markets worldwide.

In the domestic market, SIG is well-known largely because its subsidiary fund, SIG Asia Investments, participated in ByteDance's angel round investment in 2012 and remains one of its major shareholders to this day.

Whether in investment or trading, SIG has always demonstrated foresight. Over the past decade, SIG has gradually entered the crypto asset space, initially participating in the Bitcoin spot and derivatives markets, then acting as a market maker on compliant exchanges through its subsidiaries, and systematically investing in multiple sub-sectors such as public blockchain infrastructure, DeFi protocols, and digital identity through investment platforms like SIG DT and SIG Venture Capital. In the past two years, SIG has also successfully bet on prediction markets, becoming a behind-the-scenes player in this field.

From traditional derivatives giants to crypto participants

SIG began paying attention to Bitcoin-related transactions around 2014 and was invited to participate in market-making discussions for an early Bitcoin ETF proposal.

Subsequently, around 2016, SIG established a dedicated cryptocurrency trading team, which expanded to approximately twelve people by 2018, trading millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency assets through over-the-counter protocols. Bart Smith, head of digital assets at SIG, publicly stated in 2018 that the company was already operating a dedicated crypto trading department and believed that Bitcoin could be considered "digital gold." He also believed that crypto assets and underlying blockchain technology would exist for a long time and reshape the financial services industry, a significant signal of SIG's continued investment in this field.

Overall, SIG's approach to crypto assets is consistent with its DNA in traditional markets: first, use its own capital to test strategies and infrastructure in over-the-counter and exchange markets, and then gradually expand to provide more open and compliant on-exchange liquidity.

In centralized digital asset trading scenarios, the SIG's publicly confirmed market-making or liquidity provision partnerships are mainly concentrated on platforms that target institutional clients and have relatively clear regulatory pathways.

In 2022, TP ICAP announced that Susquehanna Digital Assets (SIG's digital asset subsidiary) joined its Digital Assets Spot platform as a liquidity provider and market maker, working with Flow Traders, Jane Street, Virtu Financial, and others to provide over-the-counter electronic quotes and transactions for Bitcoin and Ethereum spot trading on the platform.

In addition, SIG has long provided liquidity to several regulated digital asset and derivatives exchanges, but details of most of these partnerships have not been disclosed to the public.

To facilitate its crypto business, the SIG also underwent an organizational upgrade, creating Susquehanna Crypto, a digital asset trading company headquartered in the Bahamas. The company is registered with the Securities Commission of the Bahamas as a digital asset business entity, trading digital asset spot and derivatives globally on a proprietary basis, including futures, options, and perpetual contracts, and making extensive use of automated trading algorithms.

From Behind the Scenes to the Forefront: Mastering Prediction Markets

Beyond liquidity and market-making, SIG has recently focused on emerging compliant trading platforms such as "prediction markets." Prediction markets are platforms that allow users to "predict" the outcomes of real-world events such as election results and economic indicators by buying and selling contracts. These transactions are typically considered event derivatives, similar to futures and options in traditional finance, but also involve non-traditional assets such as politics and sports.

Due to regulatory restrictions, prediction markets were previously confined to gray areas or small-scale academic platforms. In recent years, the regulatory environment in the United States has loosened, and prediction markets have begun to move towards compliance, attracting the attention of mainstream institutions. Among them, the SIG is a behind-the-scenes player that made early moves before the prediction market's rapid rise.

In April 2024, Susquehanna Government Products, LLLP, a subsidiary of SIG, became a designated market maker for Kalshi, the first regulated prediction market exchange in the United States. Kalshi is an event-driven contract exchange approved by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), allowing users to trade on the outcomes of events such as economic data, weather, and political elections. SIG established a new trading department specifically for Kalshi to provide continuous two-way quotes and deep liquidity.

Kalshi co-founder Tarek Mansour stated that the addition of SIG as the first institutional market maker "changed everything," introducing unprecedented liquidity to the prediction market. Through this collaboration, SIG effectively addressed the long-standing liquidity shortage problem plaguing the event trading market, laying the foundation for Kalshi's massive influx of users this year. As of December 2025, Kalshi's valuation in its latest funding round has reached a staggering $11 billion.

In November 2025, SIG further increased its investment in the prediction market sector, announcing an agreement with US online brokerage giant Robinhood to jointly acquire up to 90% of the equity of the regulated cryptocurrency derivatives exchange LedgerX. LedgerX is a CFTC-licensed digital currency futures and options trading platform, formerly an asset of the bankrupt FTX exchange, which was acquired by Miami International Holdings (MIAX) in early 2023 for $50 million.

Robinhood's joint acquisition of LedgerX with SIG is seen as a significant milestone in both companies' expansion into the prediction markets and derivatives sectors. Robinhood stated that following the transaction, it will form a joint venture with SIG to launch a futures and derivatives platform that integrates an exchange and clearinghouse. This platform will leverage LedgerX's existing licenses and technology and is expected to begin operations in 2026, providing users with compliant event futures and other derivatives trading services.

Investment strategies in the cryptocurrency sector

In addition to directly participating in trading and operating platforms, SIG and its affiliated investment entities have also deeply penetrated various aspects of the crypto industry chain through venture capital and mergers and acquisitions. As an early investor in ByteDance, SIG is known for its low-key and pragmatic investment style, often holding its investments for the long term with an entrepreneurial mindset. Its portfolio companies cover areas such as trading and risk control infrastructure, trading platforms, and data services.

1. Derivatives and Infrastructure Sector

Pyth Network: In August 2021, SIG DT Investments (SIG's digital asset investment entity) announced its membership in Pyth Network, providing it with real-time price data for crypto assets such as Bitcoin. The official press release stated that SIG will gradually contribute more market-making prices for crypto assets as the Pyth Network expands, hoping to support high-frequency, low-latency derivatives applications in DeFi.

Hxro Network (Solana Derivatives Protocol): In 2021, Hxro, a derivatives liquidity network built on the Solana ecosystem, announced the completion of a $34 million strategic financing round.

Kadena (Public Blockchain Infrastructure): In 2018, the hybrid consensus public blockchain Kadena announced the completion of a $12 million Series B SAFT funding round, with investors including SIG and Multicoin Capital. The funding was mainly used to expand its high-throughput commercial blockchain and smart contract platform.

Infinity Exchange: In February 2023, London-based Infinity Exchange announced the completion of a $4.2 million seed funding round led by SIG DT and GSR Markets, with the goal of building a decentralized fixed income and derivatives market that combines the logic of traditional interest rate swaps.

SynFutures: In October 2023, the decentralized derivatives (DEX) SynFutures announced the completion of a $22 million Series B funding round, with SIG DT Investments, Pantera Capital, HashKey Capital, and others participating. The funding will be used to expand its multi-chain perpetual contracts and futures markets.

These investments all fall within their preference for "price discovery, interest rate pricing, and risk management infrastructure".

2. Identity and credentials:

Accredify (a blockchain-based verifiable credential solution): In 2023, Singapore-based digital credential platform Accredify completed a $7 million Series A funding round, co-led by iGlobe Partners and SIG Venture Capital. The funding will be used to expand its on-chain verifiable credential services for scenarios such as academic credentials, medical records, and business registration information. This investment direction is highly relevant to the traditional financial sector's need for KYC, compliance documentation, and document anti-counterfeiting, and also aligns with SIG's emphasis on "data trustworthiness and identity management."

3. Data and Research:

TokenInsight (Crypto Ratings and Data Services): In 2018, ratings and research firm TokenInsight announced the completion of a multi-million dollar Series A funding round led by Matrix Partners, with SIG Capital continuing its investment as an early investor and joining its board of directors. TokenInsight has since provided token ratings, indices, and research data to numerous exchanges and institutions, serving as a "neutral information infrastructure serving the entire industry," echoing SIG's emphasis on data and research in traditional markets.

4. Privacy and Identity Agreement:

zkPass (Privacy-Preserving Identity and Proof Protocol): In August 2023, the privacy-preserving protocol zkPass announced the completion of a $2.5 million seed funding round. Investors included Binance Labs, Sequoia China, OKX Ventures, and SIG DT Investments. The funds were primarily used for the development of its pre-release testnet. zkPass combines zero-knowledge proofs with secure multi-party computation, enabling users to prove certain attributes (such as credit scores or educational qualifications) to applications without exposing the original documents. This has strong potential synergy with future compliant DeFi, on-chain identity, and credit markets.

5. Trading Platforms and Asset Management:

KuCoin (crypto exchange): In 2022, the exchange KuCoin announced the completion of a $150 million Pre-Series B funding round, reaching a valuation of $10 billion. Investors included Jump Crypto, Circle Ventures, IDG, and SIG.

TigerWit (a forex/CFD platform) SIG also invested approximately $5 million in TigerWit, a forex and CFD platform that emphasizes blockchain technology, to support its adoption of distributed ledger technology in trading and settlement. This is one of the cases of "traditional derivatives platforms introducing blockchain".

Blofin (digital asset management institution): In 2022, Blofin, a digital asset financial services institution, announced the completion of a $50 million Series B financing round, led by KuCoin, with participation from institutions such as SIG and Matrix Partners, to expand its quantitative trading and compliance initiatives.

These investments continue SIG's traditional financial approach of combining "brokerage/trading platform + asset management + infrastructure," except that the underlying assets have expanded from stocks and options to cryptocurrencies and on-chain derivatives.

Looking at SIG's public information over the past few years, several consistent characteristics emerge in the crypto space, including a continued focus on proprietary trading and market making; a "infrastructure + data" approach to DeFi rather than simply chasing trends; and a relatively cautious approach to regulation and geographic selection. SIG's strategy in the crypto industry resembles an "old-school derivatives market maker" expanding into new asset classes: it doesn't rely on high-profile publicity to create a presence, but rather continuously seeks opportunities in new markets by focusing on core aspects such as liquidity, pricing, and risk control infrastructure.