Billionaire investor Ken Griffin is placing a major bet on a company that’s far outperformed expectations this year.

According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Griffin’s hedge fund Citadel has acquired 3,824,329 shares of NioCorp Developments Ltd (NB), a company advancing critical minerals development in the United States.

NioCorp’s flagship project in Nebraska aims to produce rare earth minerals like niobium, scandium and titanium.

Citadel’s holdings of NB represent 5.4% of its total portfolio, and 5.2% of the total outstanding shares.

NB, with a market cap of just $229 million, is trading at $3.16 after opening the year at $1.41 in January – a gain of 124% so far.

Citadel’s positioning in the company appears to underscore a focus on the energy sector, given its recent win on Chevron’s $53 billion takeover of competitor Hess Corporation.

Citadel Advisors, Adage Capital and HBK Investments were part of a group of investors betting on the acquisition as part of a merger arbitrage strategy, which involves betting on the outcome of a merger or acquisition, typically by taking long and/or short positions in the stocks of the companies involved.

Citadel and HBK each had the equivalent of $1 billion in shares, according to the firms’ latest filings, says Bloomberg.

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Several hedge funds are profiting big after their bet that gas giant Chevron would successfully acquire competitor Hess Corporation in a $53 billion deal.

Firms that specialize in merger arbitrage are looking at billions of dollars in windfall after a 20-month court arbitration finally concluded on Friday, Bloomberg reports.

Merger arbitrage is a trading strategy that involves betting on the outcome of a merger or acquisition, typically by taking long and/or short positions in the stocks of the companies involved.

According to a Morgan Stanley calculation, shares of Hess were the most widely held position for merger arbitrages in the US, collectively amounting to $10 billion worth of positions.

Notably among those betting on the acquisition were Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors, Adage Capital and HBK Investments.

Roy Behren, co-chief investment officer at Westchester Capital, says the firm held roughly $350 million in Hess shares in anticipation of the acquisition

“I’ve been waiting forever for this to happen. It took a year and a half, but I think the right outcome was achieved… The Hess stake was the largest position we have had in the past 15 years. The arbitration panel ruled the way our consultants and analysts expected.”

Citadel and HBK each had the equivalent of $1 billion in shares, according to the firms’ latest filings, says Bloomberg.

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The capital markets firm Citadel Securities is reportedly planning on diving into the crypto sector.

Bloomberg, citing “people familiar with the matter,” reports that the market maker aims to serve as a liquidity provider for crypto assets.

Citadel Securities reportedly wants to become a market maker on a number of high-profile exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and Crypto.com, and the firm plans to initially establish international market-making teams. The firm gained confidence from President Donald Trump’s vocal support of crypto, per Bloomberg’s sources.

Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin founded both Citadel Securities and the investment giant Citadel, a separate entity. He currently serves as chief executive of Citadel and non-executive chairman of Citadel Securities.

In 2023, Citadel Securities joined other financial giants like Fidelity and Charles Schwab in backing the crypto exchange EDX Markets, which exclusively caters to institutional investors. The market-making firm has also backed Hidden Road Partners, a startup prime brokerage focused on digital assets.

Last month, Trump signed an executive order to evaluate the creation of a strategic national Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto stockpile.

The order also calls for the government to “promote the development and growth of lawful and legitimate” dollar-pegged stablecoins created in the private sector.

The administration’s new leadership at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also rescinded Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, a controversial rule that forced banks to identify crypto assets held on behalf of their customers as liabilities on their balance sheets.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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