Citi Launches Crypto Platform For Institutional Clients

Banking giant Citi launched a new crypto and blockchain-based platform for its institutional clients. The Citi Token Services was released by the bank’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) with several new capabilities and features.

Citi Doubles Down On Crypto With New Platform

Per an official press release, the new crypto or token platform was created to provide institutions access to smart contracts and blockchain technology. In that way, Citi expects to address a demand for “tokenized deposits” and integrate these technologies into their global network.

Ultimately, the bank aims to “upgrade” its cash management and trading features for its clients. These institutions will have access to some advantages of smart contracts and blockchain, such as cross-border payments, programmable financial services, automated trading solutions, and others.

These services will be available for customers to use every day of the year without any conventional limitations experienced by legacy platforms. Shahmir Khaliq, Global Head of Services for the banking institution, stated:

Digital asset technologies have the potential to upgrade the regulated financial system by applying new technologies to existing legal instruments and well-established regulatory frameworks. The development of Citi Token Services is part of our journey to deliver real-time, always-on, next generation transaction banking services to our institutional clients. This development goes hand-in-hand with our industry leading work on the Regulated Liability Network to create interoperable digital asset solutions on a multi-bank basis.

The digital token platform was developed by TTS together with logistics company Marks. The bank’s partner worked with IBM and other major companies worldwide in developing blockchain-based solutions.

According to the press release, the project succeeded during its pilot phase. The partners could transfer money as tokenized assets to provide instant payment settlement on the blockchain. The bank expects this new platform to mitigate transaction time for its institutional clients.

Marie-Laure Martin, Regional Treasury Manager for the Americas at Maersk, said:

We are pleased to have collaborated with Citi in the successful test pilots for the guarantee solution using digitized tokens and smart contracts. The innovative solution has promising applications for trade finance.

Moreover, the bank claims that it will host the blockchain nodes required to run its blockchain and continue developing digital asset solutions.

A separate report from 2021 indicates that Citi has been betting big on blockchain and crypto for a few years. The banking institution promised to create over 100 roles in the nascent sector to gain a stronger foothold.

Across social media platforms, the announcement was received with some skepticism. Some users expressed confusion around the “token” used by Citi, and others wondered why the bank uses blockchain technology when the platform operates as a “regular database.”

As of this writing, Bitcoin (BTC) trades at around $27,200 as the cryptocurrency experiences some profits on low timeframes.

Cover image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview