Wall Street giant Citigroup is weighing plans to offer cryptocurrency custody and payment services, aiming to capitalize on a market bolstered by Trump-era regulatory approvals and pro-industry legislation.

Biswarup Chatterjee, a Citigroup executive, told Reuters that the bank’s initial focus would likely be custody services for “high-quality assets backing stablecoins.”

Chatterjee works within Citigroup’s services division, which manages treasury, payments, cash management and other enterprise solutions for large corporations.

The bank is also exploring custody offerings for crypto-linked exchange-traded products, which could include Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

“There needs to be custody of the equivalent amount of digital currency to support these ETFs,” Chatterjee said. 

Bitcoin ETFs have surged in popularity since their debut in early 2024. According to Bitbo, the 12 US spot Bitcoin ETF issuers now hold nearly 1.3 million BTC — about 6.2% of the total circulating supply.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) is the largest, with an estimated market value of around $88 billion.

After a slow start, Ether ETFs have seen a surge of inflows, with BlackRock’s Ethereum fund becoming the third-fastest in history to reach $10 billion in assets.

Related: SEC approves in-kind creations and redemptions for crypto ETPs

Custody, payments wouldn’t be Citi’s first move into crypto

Citigroup’s exploration of custody and payment services wouldn’t mark its first foray into the cryptocurrency market.

Earlier this year, the bank partnered with Switzerland’s SIX Digital Exchange to leverage blockchain technology to improve private markets through tokenization. 

Citi has been eyeing tokenization since at least 2023, when it described the technology as the next “killer use case” in crypto — estimating it could reach a $5 trillion market valuation by 2030.

Citi was also reportedly among several Wall Street giants, including JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, exploring the possibility of issuing a joint stablecoin.

A recent report by Ripple, CB Insights and the UK Centre for Blockchain Technologies ranked Citigroup among the most active institutional investors in blockchain companies, with 18 deals between 2020 and 2024.

Traditional financial institutions have been buoyed by Trump-era efforts to provide regulatory clarity for the crypto sector — initiatives that have extended to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the recent passage of the US GENIUS Act, a key stablecoin law.

In July, the House of Representatives passed the CLARITY market structure bill, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act and the GENIUS Act.

Related: Crypto Biz: Wall Street giants bet on stablecoins

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/citigroup-weighs-crypto-custody-as-etfs-stablecoins-gain-momentum/feed/ 0 53229 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/citigroup-looking-to-issue-own-stablecoin-and-offer-crypto-asset-custody-solutions-says-ceo-jane-fraser/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/citigroup-looking-to-issue-own-stablecoin-and-offer-crypto-asset-custody-solutions-says-ceo-jane-fraser/#respond Thu, 17 Jul 2025 17:50:43 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/citigroup-looking-to-issue-own-stablecoin-and-offer-crypto-asset-custody-solutions-says-ceo-jane-fraser/

The third-largest bank in the US is signaling intentions to enhance its digital asset capabilities and offerings.

In an earnings call for the second quarter of 2025, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser says stablecoins are the “next evolution in the broader digitization of payments, financing and liquidity.”

According to Fraser, the trillion-dollar bank intends to, among other things, issue a stablecoin and offer custody services for crypto assets.

“So four main areas that we’re exploring [are] reserve management for stablecoins, the on and off ramps from cash and coin, backwards and forwards. We are looking at the issuance of a Citi stablecoin.

But probably most importantly is the tokenized deposit space where we’re very active. And then also providing custodial solutions for crypto assets. So this is a good opportunity for us.”

According to the Citigroup CEO, the third-largest US bank’s potential stablecoin will have a cost advantage when used for making payments.

“So if you keep in mind right now, stablecoins about 88% of all stablecoin transactions are used to settle crypto trades.

There’s only 6% which is payments. In a traditional offering, if you are moving from cash to stablecoin and back to cash, right now, you’re incurring as much as a 7% transaction cost. I mean, that’s just prohibitive. So this is where Citi Token Services is so exciting because it enables the client to move from physical fiat to the digital and back again without incurring that transaction cost.”

Follow us on X, Facebook and Telegram

Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox

Check Price Action

Surf The Daily Hodl Mix

&nbsp

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: Midjourney

Billionaire Warren Buffett has funneled $305.5 billion into a safe-haven asset class, while slashing stakes in banking giants Citigroup, Bank of America, and Capital One.

New U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings show Berkshire Hathaway’s  holdings in short-dated Treasuries increased from $286.472 billion in Q4 2024 to $305.501 billion in Q1 of 2025 – a 6.64% increase in three months.

According to the filing, Buffett has allocated most of the firm’s cash reserves to US Treasuries as of Q1 2025, followed by investments in equity securities at $263.735 billion. Berkshire also has a $36.892 billion cash position as of last quarter, which ended in March.

Data from the Treasury Department shows Berkshire’s trove of US debt is large enough to surpass Taiwan’s holdings at $297.8 billion. If Warren Buffett’s investment firm were a nation, it would be the 11th-largest foreign holder of Treasury Securities, just behind France’s $363.1 billion, Ireland’s $329.3 billion and Switzerland’s $311.6 billion holdings.

Berkshire’s push for yield on its cash comes after the firm offloaded $3.23 billion worth of shares in three US banking giants last quarter.

Filings show that the investment firm fully exited Citigroup after dumping its remaining shares worth $1 billion.

The firm also sold 48.7 million Bank of America shares worth about $2.19 billion, and cashed out 300,000 shares in Capital One, which were worth roughly $46.489 million.

Follow us on X, Facebook and Telegram

Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox

Check Price Action

Surf The Daily Hodl Mix

&nbsp

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: Midjourney

Big banks are quietly scrubbing the public record of their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies following US President Donald Trump’s upheaval of the controversial practice.

Citing banking executives, lawyers and other insiders familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reports that JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are all “watering down” their language on DEI, while Wells Fargo and Bank of America are also starting to analyze their language.

It marks the first time that Wall Street has pulled away from DEI since first embracing it in 2020.

The banks’ pivot is in reaction to Trump’s signing of the executive order titled “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing” targeting DEI, plus his rescinding of over 80 executive orders signed by former US President Joe Biden that touch on DEI.

Morgan Stanley has reportedly deactivated a page on its website promoting a scholarship and recruiting program that was advertised as being for people who are “historically underrepresented in the financial services industry.”

If the link is reactivated, WSJ reports that Morgan Stanley will most likely reword it so the program is being advertised to a wider array of applicants.

Certain banks have also been warned by their lawyers that keeping DEI practices in place after erasing public affirmations of them leaves them at risk for criticism or potential litigation if whistleblowers alert federal officials or activists.

FOX News reported that workers and civil rights organizations have begun suing to stop Trump’s executive orders, arguing among other things, that they will negatively affect certain groups of people.

White House spokesman Harrison Fields said the Trump administration was “ready to face them in court.”

Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox

Check Price Action

Follow us on X, Facebook and Telegram

Surf The Daily Hodl Mix

&nbsp

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: Midjourney

Russia reportedly sent a whopping $5 billion through banking giants JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup in a scheme to skirt US sanctions.

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal citing “people familiar with the matter,” investigators at the Justice Department (DOJ) believe Russia used a state-controlled bank to move billions of dollars through correspondent US banks and ultimately into Turkey – disguising the massive transfers as funding for a nuclear plant.

Russia is accused of using unsanctioned entities including Gazprombank, a state lender that allows European countries to import fuel from Russia, in an attempt to establish an offshore dollar fund at Turkey’s state-owned Ziraat Bank.

A DOJ investigation found Gazprombank shifted $3 billion through Citibank and $2 billion through JPMorgan. The large payments triggered alarms at the DOJ, prompting authorities to block and freeze the $2 billion Chase transaction.

The DOJ filed a civil forfeiture suit last year to seize the frozen $2 billion. But the White House reportedly asked the DOJ to back off amid concerns that the order might antagonize Turkey – a country serving major importance for US interests in the Middle East.

The DOJ also says it is not probing JPMorgan or Citi for any wrongdoing in facilitating the billion-dollar transfers.

Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox

Check Price Action

Follow us on X, Facebook and Telegram

Surf The Daily Hodl Mix

&nbsp

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: Midjourney