Citi Investor Services has launched Custody+, a modular suite of near- and real-time custody solutions, and confirmed that its first digital asset custody offering will be bitcoin.
Bitcoin first
The bank said it expects to go live with digital asset custody later this year, beginning with the custody of bitcoin.
Citi noted that digital assets already operate on near-instant settlement around the clock, a contrast to the legacy infrastructure it is now rebuilding.
The offering is being built on Citi’s common digital asset architecture, allowing clients to access traditional and bitcoin custody within the same framework.
Always-on markets
The launch comes as institutional investors deal with compressed settlement cycles and continuous trading, pressures long familiar to anyone tracking bitcoin’s 100% network uptime.
Citi’s custody business supports clients across more than 100 markets, including 62 proprietary markets.
Chris Cox, Head of Investor Services at Citi, said:
“Citi’s Services business invests over US$2 billion annually in its platform strategy with a focus on speed, scale and availability. Custody+ is a clear example of this investment as we build infrastructure to eliminate latency and drag for institutional investor clients.”
Infrastructure overhaul
The announcement coincides with the completion of the U.S. rollout of Citi’s patented Single Event Processing technology, which has cut processing times for voluntary corporate actions by up to 92%.
Over 80% of the bank’s total event volume is now handled in real time, with 96% of U.S. voluntary events processed in under two hours.
Amit Agarwal, Head of Custody at Citi Investor Services, said:
“Custody+ is the product of a multi-year commitment to building infrastructure that matches the speed of our clients’ strategies.”
