SKN | Citi Plans Bitcoin Custody for Institutional Clients Later This Year

Key Points:

•  Citigroup plans to begin offering Bitcoin custody later this year through its new Custody+ platform, allowing institutional clients to hold Bitcoin alongside traditional assets through the bank’s existing custody infrastructure.
•  The service will initially support Bitcoin and is designed to integrate custody, settlement, foreign exchange and cash-management capabilities into a faster institutional platform.
•  Citi’s move adds another major Wall Street bank to the growing institutional Bitcoin custody market as regulatory conditions become more favorable for traditional financial institutions.

Citi Expands Into Bitcoin Custody

Citigroup plans to launch Bitcoin custody services for institutional clients later this year, bringing the world’s largest cryptocurrency into the same custody infrastructure the bank uses to safeguard traditional financial assets.

The initiative will be delivered through Custody+, a new suite of services developed by Citi’s institutional infrastructure business.

The platform is designed to provide faster custody, settlement, foreign exchange and cash-management services for institutional clients operating across financial markets.

Citi said Bitcoin will be the first cryptocurrency supported by the new custody service, although the bank has not yet provided a specific launch date.

Bitcoin to Join Traditional Asset Custody

The planned service could allow institutional clients to hold Bitcoin through Citi alongside traditional assets such as stocks and bonds.

Citi’s custody operation serves clients across more than 100 markets, including 62 markets where the bank operates its own custody network.

Adding Bitcoin to that infrastructure could make it easier for institutions that already work with Citi to gain cryptocurrency exposure without establishing a separate relationship with a dedicated digital-asset custodian.

The development also reflects the gradual integration of Bitcoin into established institutional financial infrastructure.

For large investors, having traditional securities and Bitcoin supported through the same custody relationship could simplify operational processes, reporting and asset management.

Citi Builds Faster Institutional Infrastructure

Bitcoin custody is part of a broader effort by Citi to modernize its institutional infrastructure.

The bank has introduced new technology in the United States that allows many custody-related processes to move through a single system rather than multiple operational steps.

According to Citi, more than 80% of these events are now processed in real time.

The new system has also reduced processing times by as much as 92%, with 96% of events now completed within two hours.

The bank’s Custody+ initiative is therefore intended to address broader institutional demand for faster financial infrastructure rather than focusing exclusively on cryptocurrency.

Institutional Bitcoin Custody Becomes More Competitive

Citi is entering a market that already includes several major financial institutions and specialized digital-asset providers.

BNY began offering cryptocurrency custody to certain US clients in 2022, while Fidelity Digital Assets and Coinbase already provide institutional custody services.

The expansion of traditional financial institutions into Bitcoin custody has accelerated as regulatory conditions surrounding digital assets have evolved.

The withdrawal of the SEC’s SAB 121 accounting policy in 2025 also reduced a significant obstacle for banks seeking to safeguard cryptocurrency assets for customers.

The policy had previously made crypto custody more costly for traditional financial institutions by imposing specific accounting treatment on crypto assets held on behalf of customers.

Wall Street’s Bitcoin Infrastructure Expands

Citi’s planned Bitcoin custody service adds to a broader transformation in how traditional financial institutions approach digital assets.

Rather than requiring institutional investors to rely exclusively on specialized cryptocurrency platforms, major banks are increasingly incorporating Bitcoin into established financial infrastructure.

The shift could make institutional cryptocurrency exposure more accessible to asset managers and other financial institutions that already rely on large banks for custody and settlement.

It also creates greater competition among banks and crypto-native custody providers, potentially encouraging improvements in security, settlement speed and institutional asset-management infrastructure.

Closing Insights

Citi’s planned Bitcoin custody launch represents another significant step in the integration of digital assets with traditional financial markets. By bringing Bitcoin into its Custody+ platform, the bank intends to allow institutional clients to manage cryptocurrency alongside conventional assets through an established custody relationship. The move comes as regulatory conditions become more accommodating and other major financial institutions expand their digital-asset capabilities. If Citi’s service launches as planned later this year, its extensive global custody network could provide another channel for institutional investors seeking Bitcoin exposure without relying exclusively on specialized crypto custodians.