Crypto Custody Revolution: Citigroup Takes Aim at Coinbase Dominance Starting 2026

Wall Street giant Citigroup is charging into the crypto custody arena—and they're coming for Coinbase's throne.

The Banking Behemoth Awakens

Citigroup's massive financial infrastructure is being retooled for digital assets, creating what could become the most formidable challenger to established crypto custodians. The 2026 launch timeline gives them just enough time to build while the regulatory landscape matures.

Traditional finance finally understands what crypto natives knew all along: custody isn't just about security—it's about controlling the gateway to trillions in digital wealth. Citigroup's move signals that institutional adoption is no longer speculative—it's inevitable.

Coinbase better watch its back. When traditional banks decide to play in crypto, they don't just dip toes—they bring entire treasury departments. Though watching banks 'disrupt' crypto does feel like watching your grandfather try to skateboard.

En brief

• Binance announces a $45 million BNB airdrop to compensate memecoin traders for losses after a sharp market crash.
• Over 160,000 addresses are eligible for the operation, called the “Reload Airdrop,” with distribution expected through early November.
• The announcement comes after a record $20 billion liquidation, the largest single-day loss in crypto history.
• Several users report technical issues on Binance during the crash, including being unable to close certain positions.

The Reload Airdrop : an unprecedented compensation operation

This Monday, BNB Chain announced the launch of a special $45 million BNB airdrop, intended for more than 160,000 eligible addresses. The initiative, called “Reload Airdrop”, aims to compensate the memecoin traders hardest hit by the market collapse that occurred on Friday.

On this occasion, Changpeng Zhao, founder and former CEO of Binance, specified that “rewards will be randomly distributed”. The token distribution will be carried out in partnership with key BNB ecosystem players, notably Four Meme, PancakeSwap, Binance Wallet, and Trust Wallet, and should be completed by early November.

It was a $44 Million Reload Fund", air dropped randomly to people who lost money on memes on BNB Chain a few days ago.

Then someone added $1 million more, and "screwed it up". 🤣

Protect users. @BNBChain https://t.co/ZgafLDtqm2

This initiative follows a record $20 billion liquidation, the largest ever recorded in a single day in the history of cryptos. Binance intends to demonstrate its responsiveness while regaining the trust of a shaken community.

Here are the main elements of this compensation program :

• Total amount : $45 million, denominated in BNB ;
• Number of beneficiaries : more than 160,000 addresses involved ;
• Distribution period : immediate start, completion expected early November ;
• Eligibility criteria : losses linked to memecoin trading during the market crash ;
• Distribution partners : PancakeSwap, Trust Wallet, Four Meme, Binance Wallet ;
• Allocation method : random, according to CZ’s statements.

Despite the turbulence, the BNB price reached a historic high of $1,370 on Monday morning. A strong signal, contrasting with the prevailing climate of distrust, which could indicate an attempt at stabilization, at least temporary, in an otherwise unstable market.

Outages, False Displays, Depeggings : Binance in the Technical Turmoil

Alongside the announcement of the airdrop, many voices have risen against Binance, accusing the platform of worsening market panic through technical failures.

On X (formerly Twitter), the trader SleeperShadow wrote on Saturday : “Binance shut down its system during a major market crash” adding that they were “unable to close their futures positions”.

I’m done with Binance. They shut down their system during a major market crash, leaving me unable to close my futures positions. It’s simply hard and painful to see liquidation that could’ve been avoided. @eliz883 😭💔

Serious accusations, reinforced by anomalies observed on several tokens: altcoins like IoTex (IOTX), Enjin (ENJ), or Cosmos (ATOM) briefly displayed a price of $0 on Binance, while they continued to be properly valued on other platforms.

The second major source of tension is the spectacular depeg of the synthetic stablecoin USDe (Ethena), which fell to $0.65 on Binance on October 11. This decoupling was not observed elsewhere, leading Guy Young, founder of Ethena Labs, to denounce Binance’s pricing method.

According to him, the exchange used data from its own order book, “where liquidity was relatively lower” instead of relying on an external oracle. In response to these criticisms, Binance issued a statement on Sunday mentioning a “complete review” of the events. The platform claims its “core futures” remained operational and attributes the $0 prices to a recent change in decimal parameters, excluding any real drop of the concerned tokens.

The consequences of these malfunctions go far beyond simple display errors. Binance acknowledged that assets like USDe, BNSOL, or WBETH used as collaterals led to unjustified forced liquidations, causing losses for several users. The exchange claims to have reimbursed these losses up to $283 million. This episode raises questions about the reliability of the infrastructure of a centralized actor like Binance, especially in a context of extreme volatility and manipulation accusations.

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