After winning a 6 million-pound London arbitration award, Citadel dropped its U.S. trade secrets case, saying another judgment would likely go uncollected.

Citadel abandoned its U.S. trade secrets lawsuit against crypto market maker Portofino Technologies, saying it no longer made financial sense to pursue another court victory while struggling to collect a nearly 6 million-pound ($8 million) judgment it already won.

In a filing made on Wednesday in the U.S., Miami-based Citadel jointly agreed with Portofino to dismiss the New York trade secrets case. Also on Wednesday, Citadel asked England's High Court to declare Portofino founder Leonard Lancia bankrupt over the unpaid arbitration award. The moves underscore that the dispute has shifted from proving liability to collecting money.

Under the U.S. stipulation, each side will bear its own legal fees and costs, and Citadel also dismissed claims against unnamed Doe defendants.

Portofino Technologies is a Swiss crypto-native financial technology firm that provides institutional trading infrastructure for digital asset markets. Founded in 2021 by former Citadel Securities executives, the company specializes in market making, over-the-counter (OTC) trading and treasury management services for exchanges, token issuers, institutional investors and Web3 projects.

Aspokesperson for Citadel Securities said "Mr. Lancia repeatedly lied to his colleagues at Citadel Securities and to Portofino’s investors, and we intend to enforce the UK court's substantial judgment."

Portofino's U.S. lawyer David Slarskey said "Citadel won 50,000 pounds in arbitration—and nothing for theft of trade secrets—after seeking hundreds of millions of dollars, on a bogus theory that the Mr. Lancia and others stole information to launch Portofino. The real story here is that Citadel is an abusive litigant, enabled by very deep pockets, and happy to waste money chasing former employees around the globe to retaliate against them for having the temerity to leave the firm."

The dismissal ends nearly three years of litigation without any ruling on Citadel's trade secret allegations.

Citadel told the New York court the decision to stop pursuing the case had nothing to do with the merits of its claims. Instead, it said it had already prevailed in a separate London arbitration against Portofino's founders on employment-related claims, including breach of contract, unlawful means conspiracy and deceit, winning damages and legal costs that the High Court later recognized and made enforceable.

Despite that victory, Citadel said it has been unable to collect the award, leading to the bankruptcy petition against Lancia.

Inthe filing, Citadel says Lancia owes 5.98 million pounds of the 2025 award by the London Court of International Arbitration, as well as interest and costs.

The petition says the awards were recognized by England's High Court in February, a statutory demand served in April went unsatisfied, and Lancia's attempt to set aside that demand was dismissed in May.

Citadel estimates it holds security worth only about 21,886 pounds against the debt, mostly small bank accounts and minority interests in French companies.

Inthe letter accompanying the U.S. dismissal, Citadel also noted that Lancia is subject to a worldwide freezing order and faces bankruptcy proceedings, adding that evidence presented at a June 26 High Court hearing failed to persuade the court that his ownership stake in Portofino held significant value.

"These developments have led Citadel Securities to believe that further litigation would likely yield little more than another unsatisfied judgment," the company wrote.

UPDATE (July 8, 5.18 pm UTC): Updates story with Portofino's lawyer's comments.

UPDATE (July 8, 3.12 pm UTC): Updates story with Citadel spokesperson comment.

• 1 Polymarket bets on U.S. marketing blitz to win back trust after 4-year ban: Report 2 hours ago

• 2 Crypto Long & Short: With MSTR concerns assuaged, look to traditional signals around BTC 2 hours ago

• 3 Crypto VC Paradigm launches $1.2 billion AI fund as it broadens beyond digital assets 2 hours ago

• 4 Dinari, tZERO join forces on turnkey platform for tokenized U.S. equities 3 hours ago

• 5 Adam Back's BSTR scraps SPAC merger, seeks new deal 3 hours ago

• 6 BNB Chain is building a new layer-1 for high-frequency trading and AI agents 3 hours ago

• 7 SpaceX's first bitcoin wallet movements in six months likely don't signal sales 5 hours ago

• 8 Bitcoin's inflation quagmire gets stickier as renewed MidEast conflict sends oil price soaring 6 hours ago

• 9 Crypto and stocks tumble after Trump declares ceasefire 'over' following Iran strikes 7 hours ago

• 10 Reserve Bank of India still favors crypto prohibition to curtail tax evasion: Reuters 8 hours ago

SpaceX IPO Drives Tokenized Equity Volumes to Record as Stablecoin Market Cap Falls

SpaceX IPO Drives Tokenized Equity Volumes to Record as Stablecoin Market Cap Falls

Stablecoin market cap fell to $312B in June, its largest monthly drop since TerraUSD, while tokenized equity volumes surged 145% to a record $3.86B.

Stablecoin market cap fell to $312B in June, its largest monthly drop since TerraUSD, while tokenized equity volumes surged 145% to a record $3.86B.

Why it matters :

Stablecoin market cap fell to $312B in June, its largest monthly drop since TerraUSD, while tokenized equity volumes surged 145% to a record $3.86B.