Citadel Securities (market maker)
firmDarknet & Cyber
One firm handles about 40% of all US retail stock orders — and it's the one Robinhood routed your trades to.
Who they are
Citadel Securities, Ken Griffin's wholesale market-making arm, legally separate from his hedge fund but under the same owner.
What they do
It's the middleman that executes a huge share of retail stock trades.
How it works
It controls roughly 40% of US retail order flow through payment-for-order-flow, and in Q1 2021 paid Robinhood $142 million (of Robinhood's $331 million total order-flow revenue). In January 2022 it took a $1.15 billion investment from Sequoia and Paradigm at a $22 billion valuation — the same venture-capital cluster that also holds Robinhood equity.
Why it matters
It's the dominant counterparty for retail order flow before, during and after the GameStop event — meaning the same money backs both the retail app and the firm on the other side of its trades.
The engine's record — word for word
Ken Griffin's wholesale market-making arm. Controls ~40% of US retail equity order flow via PFOF. Q1 2021 paid Robinhood $142M (of $331M Robinhood total PFOF revenue). Jan 2022: $1.15B investment from Sequoia Capital + Paradigm at $22B valuation — the exact VC cluster that also holds Robinhood equity. Legally firewalled from Citadel LLC but under common Griffin ownership. Structural function: apex PFOF counterparty; consolidated order-flow dominance during + after the GME event.
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