Citi to Launch Bitcoin Custody as It Builds 24/7 Digital Asset Infrastructure

Citi is set to launch digital asset custody later this year, starting with Bitcoin, but the move is part of a broader effort to adapt its market infrastructure to an increasingly always-on financial system.

The Wall Street bank unveiled Custody+, a new suite of near- and real-time services that will allow institutional clients to access traditional and crypto custody within the same framework. Citi said the digital asset service will be built on its common digital asset architecture, alongside capabilities spanning real-time asset servicing, settlement, liquidity and market intelligence.

The announcement confirms plans Citi outlined last year to enter native crypto custody in 2026. More significantly, however, it brings the service into a wider strategy that increasingly connects custody with tokenized deposits and faster settlement infrastructure.

Crypto Custody Becomes Part of Citi's Broader Infrastructure Strategy

Citi's move into digital asset custody has been years in the making.

As Unlock Blockchain previously reported, Citi partnered with Metaco to develop institutional digital asset custody capabilities, laying groundwork for a service that would allow the bank to support the safekeeping of digital assets alongside its existing institutional offerings.

The bank later confirmed its intention to launch native crypto custody in 2026. With Custody+, that plan is now being incorporated into a broader operating model rather than introduced as a standalone crypto product.

That distinction matters. Citi said clients will be able to access crypto and traditional custody through the same framework, reducing the need for separate systems as institutions add digital assets to portfolios already containing conventional securities.

For Citi, Bitcoin is therefore the starting point, not the entire strategy.

Tokenized Deposits Point to the Bigger Picture

The custody launch follows a series of initiatives showing how Citi is expanding its digital asset infrastructure beyond cryptocurrencies.

The bank has been developing tokenized deposit capabilities designed to support the movement of value around the clock. Citi's digital asset platform already supports solutions spanning tokenization, custody and foreign exchange settlement, while its Citi Token Services for Cash enables participating clients to transfer liquidity between participating Citi branches on a 24/7 basis, subject to transaction limits.

Citi has also participated in broader industry efforts to move tokenized money and payments infrastructure closer to production. The bank joined Swift's blockchain initiative for tokenized deposit payments, while also becoming part of a group of major U.S. banks working toward a tokenized deposit network targeted for launch in 2027.

These developments suggest that Citi's digital asset strategy is increasingly centered on a broader infrastructure challenge: how to support different forms of value as markets move beyond the traditional banking day.

From Asset Custody to Always-On Markets

Custody+ is explicitly designed around that shift.

The platform combines crypto and traditional custody with near- and real-time asset servicing, instant settlement, liquidity capabilities and other tools aimed at markets facing shorter settlement cycles and growing demand for continuous operations. Citi also highlighted its existing ability to move tokenized deposits on a near-instantaneous, 24/7 basis across select markets.

That makes the Bitcoin custody announcement more than another example of a Wall Street bank adding crypto to its product offering.

Traditional market infrastructure was largely designed around distinct asset classes, separate operating systems and limited market hours. The direction of travel now is toward infrastructure capable of handling traditional securities, digital assets and tokenized money with greater speed and, increasingly, within a common operational framework.

The same trend is visible across the wider tokenization market. As Unlock Blockchain recently reported, tokenized real-world assets have continued to expand rapidly, with banks and financial institutions increasingly exploring blockchain not only for investment products but also for settlement and core financial infrastructure.

The Bigger Shift Is Integration

Citi's latest move reflects an important change in how large financial institutions are approaching digital assets.

The earlier institutional question was whether banks should offer crypto services at all. The more pressing question is increasingly whether existing systems can support digital assets without forcing clients to operate separate custody, settlement and reporting structures.

Citi appears to be betting that integration will matter as much as the assets themselves.

By placing Bitcoin custody alongside traditional asset servicing and connecting its digital asset architecture to broader tokenization and settlement initiatives, the bank is building toward a model in which crypto is one component of a wider infrastructure stack.

The significance of the launch, therefore, is not simply that another major Wall Street institution will hold Bitcoin for clients.

It is that the boundary between traditional custody and digital asset infrastructure is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.

As tokenized deposits, blockchain-based settlement and native digital assets move further into institutional finance, the competitive advantage may ultimately lie less in offering a particular cryptocurrency and more in building the infrastructure capable of handling multiple forms of value at the speed markets increasingly demand.