Citigroup (C) plans to launch institutional Bitcoin custody services later this year as part of a broader push to integrate digital assets into banks’ traditional financial infrastructure.
Nisha Surendran, who leads Citi’s digital asset custody product build, described the effort as an effort to “make Bitcoin bankable” in a speech at the Global Strategic Forum on Thursday.
It starts with institutional-grade key management and wallet infrastructure. But Surendran said his ambition is broader, to bring Bitcoin into the same management, reporting and control framework that clients already use for traditional assets.
Announcing these plans at the Global Strategy 2026 Forum, Surendran said, “We intend to offer our customers a single service model across cryptocurrencies, securities and currencies.” He said Bitcoin positions flow into the same reporting channels and tax workflows as stocks and bonds.
Customers will be able to direct trades via SWIFT, API or user interface, he added. “From the customer’s perspective, all they have to worry about is what they tell us. We handle all the complex clearing and settlement and then report on it.”
client demand
One of the reasons Citi is moving towards bankable Bitcoin is because of customer demand.
Surendran said Citi surveyed its customers, adding that customers “don’t want to deal with wallets and keys and one-time addresses.” Instead, they want exposure to Bitcoin within the banking system they are familiar with. Citi also wants to enable customers to cross-margin crypto and traditional assets, Surendran said.
He described future account structures where multiple asset types, such as U.S. Treasuries, foreign bonds, tokenized money market funds, and Bitcoin, will be under a single master custodial or custodial account.
“The fact that all these assets are accessible within the same account structure makes it easier to use them for cross-margining,” she said, including the possibility of using crypto assets on traditional exchanges and broker-dealers, and vice versa. Citi intends to build the infrastructure to support it, she said.
It’s no surprise that major banks are moving further into the digital asset space. Institutional investors have sought exposure to the sector from traditional financial institutions in recent years. What started with BlackRock offering exchange-traded funds to give more investors exposure has now spread to numerous banks and financial institutions, continuing to integrate traditional financial services into the digital asset sector.
For example, Morgan Stanley, which manages about $8 trillion in assets, recently filed for exchange-traded products for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, and is considering wallet technology across its wealth platform. We also develop spot trading of cryptocurrencies on the E*TRADE platform and evaluate financing and yield opportunities related to digital assets.
“We need to build this in-house. We can’t just rent technology,” Amy Gollenberg, recently appointed head of digital assets at the large bank, said in a presentation at a Strategy World event ahead of Surendran.
Built for the 24/7 market
Citi, which connects to more than 220 payment networks around the world, also started with private permissioned blockchains before expanding to public networks as regulations became clearer and customer demand increased. This is similar to what another major bank, JP Morgan, did with JPM Coin.
One real-world use case is the Citi Token Service for Cash, a 24/7 blockchain-based network used to move money within Citi’s global system. “As we move into a world of 24/7 assets like Bitcoin, there will definitely be a need for 24/7 USD or 24/7 digital money,” she said, adding that Citi’s internal systems are adapted to support 24/7.
The 24/7 marketplace is also what institutional customers are looking for from traditional financial institutions. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced last month that it plans to introduce a 24-hour blockchain-based trading venue for tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds later this year.
Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange’s main U.S. competitor, unveiled plans in December to facilitate near-24-hour trading in stocks and exchange-traded products (ETPs), in line with the globalization of financial markets and growing investor interest.
