Citigroup Doubles Down on Crypto: Custody & Payment Services for ETFs and Stablecoins Coming Soon
Wall Street's sleeping giant just woke up—and it's hungry for crypto.
Citigroup is quietly building the plumbing for the next wave of institutional crypto adoption, with custody and payment infrastructure for ETFs and stablecoins in its crosshairs. Because nothing says 'mainstream' like a 209-year-old bank holding your Bitcoin keys.
The move signals a tectonic shift: TradFi's old guard is finally conceding that digital assets aren't going away. Even if they still can't decide whether to embrace crypto or just monetize their clients' FOMO.
One thing's certain—when Citi starts offering crypto ETF custody, the institutional floodgates won't just open. They'll burst.
Citigroup eyes crypto ETFs custody market
Citi already offers a tokenized asset solution, using blockchain for U.S. dollar payments and transfers between bank accounts in London, New York, and Hong Kong. The service allows for 24-hour transfers.
As well as stablecoins, Citi plans to enter the crypto exchange-traded funds as a custody service provider.
This area of the rapidly expanding digital asset market has received notable traction since the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first spot crypto ETF with Bitcoin (BTC) spot ETFs in 2024. Demand has pushed the total net assets in spot Bitcoin ETFs to over $158.6 billion, with the largest BTC ETF being the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust with $91 billion in net assets.
Other issuers include Fidelity Investments, Grayscale, Ark & 21Shares and Bitwise.
“There needs to be custody of the equivalent amount of digital currency to support these ETFs,” Chatterjee added in an interview.
Citi’s plans will see it enter a market currently dominated by U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase.
The crypto behemoth serves as custodian for over 80% of the existing crypto ETFs. Citi and State Street first revealed plans to enter the crypto custody space in February, coinciding with Citi’s launch of the CIDAP digital asset platform.
