Making It Real: Digital Assets
Every day, our Services business moves trillions of dollars across currencies, markets and time zones. Payments and deposits sit at the core of our franchise. They power our lending, support our clients’ operations and anchor Citi’s role in the global financial system.
The architecture of how money and assets move and settle is changing.
Over the past few years, digital assets have captured headlines. Investing in crypto assets, new coins and tokens and regulatory debates have joined the conversation at a C-suite level across the industry. Within Citi, you’ve seen us launch Citi Token Services, build out digital asset custody capabilities and connectivity to new blockchain networks. These reflect a broader shift in how value moves through our network and the system.
For decades, finance operated within defined but acceptable constraints. Payments cleared during set hours, securities settled in cycles and liquidity was managed through batch processes. As societal and commercial needs evolve and technology creates enhanced capabilities, those constraints are loosening. Money and assets can move continuously; settlement cycles are compressing and new forms of assets and instruments such as stablecoins and tokenized funds are emerging.
We see the shift in client behavior. Treasurers want faster cash mobility, asset managers are adopting tokenized instruments and digital platforms are being built on the assumption that liquidity is always available.
For Citi, this creates a real strategic imperative.
Deposits and payments form the foundation of our balance sheet. As liquidity becomes more mobile, clients will expect greater flexibility in how they hold and move cash. If value can move instantly elsewhere, it must move seamlessly with us and through our network. This is about strengthening our franchise, defending our role at the center of client flows and unlocking new sources of growth.
Our response is to lead on infrastructure. Through Citi Token Services, we are enabling clients to move liquidity and securities on a 24/7 basis across markets and currencies. We are modernizing payment rails, enhancing collateral mobility and building capabilities aligned with where the commercial ecosystem is going. These investments create optionality for our clients and for the firm.
Our Investor Services business is critical to this effort. As assets become more digital and settlement accelerates, the way securities are issued, serviced, financed and held will evolve. We are investing in digital asset custody and modernizing post trade infrastructure so clients can safekeep and mobilize assets with the same confidence they expect today.
This work extends across the firm. In Markets and Wealth, clients are exploring the opportunity to seek exposure to cryptocurrencies, tokenized funds and digital bonds. We are expanding access within a disciplined risk framework and preparing to custody those assets within a regulated environment. We also are supporting digital-native firms, bringing new activity and deposits into the bank.
All of this connects back to liquidity. Whether the asset is a deposit, a fund or a tokenized security, clients expect it to move seamlessly through trusted infrastructure.
Legislation and regulation will shape how this evolves. We have been actively monitoring developments around the world including the GENIUS Act and the Clarity Act. Clear rules are essential if innovation is to scale responsibly and if trust in the system is to remain strong.
This transition will unfold over time.
Many clients still operate on legacy infrastructure. Systems, processes and risk controls must evolve alongside technology. Our responsibility at Citi is to bridge that transition.
Over time, deposits, payments, investment and collateral assets will exist in both traditional and tokenized forms, moving across multiple networks. As interoperability improves, clients will expect capital to move and transfer when and where it is needed without friction.
In that environment, the role of a bank evolves from dealing in transactions in defined windows to orchestrating value movement continuously, providing trust, connectivity and control across a more connected financial ecosystem.