Citi is seen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on March 3, 2025.
NYSE
Citi is aiming to launch a service for the custody of crypto assets in 2026, an executive at the bank told CNBC, as Wall Street giants expand their footprint in the digital currency space.
Biswarup Chatterjee, global head of partnerships and innovation in the services business at Citi said the bank has been developing a crypto custody service for the last two-to-three years and is making progress.
“We have various kinds of explorations … and we’re hoping that in the next few quarters, we can come to market with a credible custody solution that we can offer to our asset managers and other clients,” Chatterjee said.
For a long time, traditional financial instutions have stayed away from cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether. However, President Donald Trump’s administration has built a more favorable regulatory environment for digital assets in the U.S. as new laws such as the GENIUS Act has looked to regulate specific areas including stablecoins. This has enabled traditional financial institutions to launch products and services to do with digital assets.
In the world of crypto, custody comes in many forms including a digital asset exchange holding digital coins or the institution itself doing self-custody. Custodian services enable a bank to hold assets on behalf of its clients. This could for example, include shares in companies. There are also companies that have sprung up specifically related to crypto custody.
Chatterjee said the upcoming custody service would involve Citi holding the native cryptocurrency.
There are risks with all forms of custody such as cyberattacks that lead to theft of assets. Banks may offer an alternative because they are heavily regualted and have a history in the custody of assets.
For Citi, Chatterjee said the lender is looking at both an in-house developed technology solution for custody as well as potential partnerships with third-parties.
“We may have certain solutions that are completely designed and built in-house that are targeted towards certain assets and certain segment of our clients, whereas may we may use a … third party, lightweight, nimble solution for other kind of assets,” Chatterjee told CNBC.
“So we’re not currently ruling out anything.”
Not all Wall Street banks are convinced on the custody strategy. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said this year that while the bank will let clients buy cryptocurrencies, it will not custody the asset.
Exploration of stablecoins
U.S. banks have launched various services this year that touch on cryptocurrencies but also rely on the underlying blockchain technology.
JPMorgan announced plans this year for a deposit token that is intended to serve as a digital representation of a commercial bank deposit. This would allow movement of money 24 hours a day and seven days a week.
These deposit tokens are built on the Ethereum network. Citi also has its own version called Citi Token Services which allows cross-border movement of money quickly and at all times of the day.
Banks are seeing blockchain as a way to move money around the world in different currencies quickly, even when traditional banking windows are closed.
The next potential product they are eying are stablecoins. This type of digital coin is usually pegged to a fiat currency like the U.S. dollar and backed by real-world assets such as bonds, in order to maintain its value. The biggest commercial stablecoins are Circle’s USDC and Tether’s USDT.
Citi’s Chatterjee said stablecoins could be appealing in areas of the world with a less-developed banking and payments system. As Citi’s clients expand into those countries and interact with suppliers and customers there, a stablecoin-like product could be viable, he said.
“We do recognize the fact that there are these pockets in the world where you have a commercial need from our clients to be there and do business,” Chatterjee said.
The Citi executive added that the bank is still in the “early stages of the stablecoin exploration.” Last week, stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK announced it had received an investment from Citi, underscoring the bank’s interest in the space.
Other Wall Street banks are also in the early phase of assessing stablecoins. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said in July that the lender is working on launching stablecoins. JPMorgan is also in the mix.
Scott Lucas, global head of markets digital assets at JPMorgan, told CNBC on Monday that the company is also “exploring” the digital currency.
“There’s a real opportunity for us to think about how we can offer different services for our clients on the cash side, as well as responding to client demand to do things on stablecoins,” Lucas said. “And that strategy is still emerging, as you can understand, because it’s only really been a few months since we’ve had some more clear regulation around what the opportunity looks like.”
