Banking Giant Citigroup Prepares to Enter Crypto Custody and Stablecoin Market
U.S. banking giant Citigroup is moving closer to offering digital asset custody services, a sign of how deeply traditional finance is embedding itself into crypto.
The $2.5 trillion bank is also weighing the launch of its own stablecoin, part of a broader push to modernize payments and asset management in a friendlier regulatory climate under President Donald Trump.
Aiming for Stablecoin and ETF Custody
Biswarup Chatterjee, who heads partnerships and innovation for Citigroup’s services division, said the bank’s first step would likely be safeguarding the reserve assets that back high-quality stablecoins. The bank is also studying how to store assets for crypto ETFs, including Bitcoin and Ethereum products — a space where Coinbase currently dominates.
The scale of that opportunity is huge. BlackRock’s IBIT fund alone holds over $90 billion, and every ETF requires equivalent custody of the underlying digital assets.
Faster Payments and Tokenized Dollars
Citigroup already runs tokenized U.S. dollar payment rails for instant global transfers between accounts. The bank is now looking at extending this capability to stablecoins, allowing clients to move funds instantly or swap them into fiat on demand.
Chatterjee said such services could dramatically cut settlement times compared to traditional bank transfers, which often take days.
Compliance and Security as Cornerstones
Any expansion into crypto custody, he added, would come with strict due diligence to ensure assets have legitimate origins and with reinforced cybersecurity to protect holdings.
The move reflects a broader trend among major banks. JPMorgan and PNC Bank have both deepened ties with Coinbase for crypto services, while BNY Mellon recently partnered with Ripple to safeguard reserves for its RLUSD stablecoin.
For Citigroup, entering the crypto custody and stablecoin markets could provide a new foothold in an industry increasingly attracting both institutional and retail capital.
The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice. Coindoo.com does not endorse or recommend any specific investment strategy or cryptocurrency. Always conduct your own research and consult with a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coindoo and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.
