Wall Street Giant Citi to Launch Bitcoin Custody Later This Year

The Wall Street banking behemoth introduced earlier at present that it’s getting ready to take one other step into the cryptocurrency trade, highlighting plans to launch digital asset custody later in 2026.

Bitcoin would be the first asset supported by the brand new service, which is able to sit alongside the financial institution’s conventional custody enterprise below its newly unveiled Custody+ platform.

The press launch revealed on August 18 indicated that Custody+ will act as a set of near- and real-time companies designed to accommodate monetary markets more and more transferring towards steady buying and selling and quicker settlement. Given one of many key variations between conventional monetary property and crypto – specifically, the truth that the latter operates 24/7 – Citi defined that the crypto-focused a part of the enterprise will launch later this yr.

“Digital property already function on near-instant settlement, 24/7. Citi expects to go stay with digital asset custody later this yr, beginning with the custody of Bitcoin. This is being constructed on Citi’s frequent digital asset structure, and we’ll supply a one-stop custody expertise. Clients will entry conventional and crypto custody capabilities inside the similar framework for an built-in expertise.”

This initiative gives a extra concrete timeline of Citi’s plans relating to the cryptocurrency trade, because it stated final yr that it was getting ready to launch such custody in 2026 with no clear timeline.

Aside from beginning with BTC, the banking large failed to disclose which digital property are scheduled to comply with go well with.

Citi has dabbled within the trade for years. It ramped up its efforts in 2021 by adding up to 100 individuals to its cryptocurrency staff. Meanwhile, different US institutional behemoths, corresponding to Jane Street Group, have increased their ETF publicity to BTC.

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