Citadel’s move is very realistic: there’s no money to be had by continuing the US lawsuit, so it simply shifts to filing for bankruptcy in the UK to pursue debt collection, and the Portofino founder is going to have a headache.

According to CoinDesk, global market maker Citadel Securities has withdrawn its U.S. trade secrets lawsuit against crypto market maker Portofino Technologies and has applied to the High Court of England and Wales to seek a declaration that Portofino founder Leonard Lancia is bankrupt. Citadel said that it previously obtained approximately £5.98 million in compensation and related costs in a London arbitration, but has been unable to collect the payment, and therefore continuing to pursue the U.S. lawsuit has no practical economic significance. Portofino was founded in 2021 by former Citadel Securities executives and primarily provides digital asset market making, over-the-counter (OTC) trading, and liquidity services to institutional clients.