Share
Share this article
Copy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmail
Finance
Share
Share this article
Copy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmail
Citi and Morgan Stanley expand bitcoin and c
Finance
Share
Share this article
Copy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmail
Citi and Morgan Stanley expand bitcoin and c
Citi and Morgan Stanley expand bitcoin and crypto custody, trading and tokenization efforts
Citi and Morgan Stanley expand bitcoin and crypto custody, trading and tokenization efforts
As Citi integrates Bitcoin into bank-grade custody and reporting frameworks, Morgan Stanley moves to bring crypto trading, lending exploration and tokenized products to mainstream wealth clients.
By Olivier Acuna|Edited by Stephen Alpher, Aoyon Ashraf
Feb 27, 2026, 7:19 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Citi plans to offer clients crypto bank accounts. (Citi building. (Photo: Declan Sun-Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk)
What to know:
- Citigroup plans to launch institutional bitcoin custody later this year, integrating the cryptocurrency into the same custody, reporting and tax frameworks it uses for traditional assets.
- The bank aims to let clients manage bitcoin alongside securities and cash under a single safekeeping account, enabling cross-margining between digital and traditional assets.
- Citi’s move comes as major financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan, expand digital asset offerings and adapt infrastructure for 24/7 blockchain-based markets.
Citigroup (C) plans to launch institutional bitcoin custody later this year, part of a broader push to integrate digital assets into the bank’s traditional financial infrastructure.
Nisha Surendran, who heads Citi’s digital asset custody product buildout, described the initiative in a speech at the World Strategy Forum on Thursday as an effort to “make bitcoin bankable.”
That begins with institutional-grade key management and wallet infrastructure. But, Surendran said, the ambition is broader: to bring bitcoin into the same custody, reporting and control frameworks that clients already use for traditional assets.
“We will be offering our clients a single service model across crypto, securities and money,” said Surendran, who announced these plans during the World Strategy 2026 forum. Bitcoin positions, she said, will flow into the same reporting channels and tax workflows as equities and bonds.
Clients will be able to instruct transactions via SWIFT, APIs or user interfaces, she added. “From a client perspective, all they should care about is that they instruct us. We handle all the clearing and settlement complexity, and then we report back.”
Client demand
One of the reasons Citi is moving towards bankable bitcoin is because of client demand.
Citi has surveyed its clients, Surendran said, adding that they “don’t want to handle wallets and keys and one-time addresses.” Instead, they want exposure to bitcoin within familiar banking systems. Citi also wants to enable its clients to cross-margin crypto and traditional assets, Surendran said.
She described a future account structure in which multiple asset types sit under a single master safekeeping or custody account, including U.S. Treasuries, foreign bonds, tokenized money market funds, and bitcoin.
“The fact that all of these assets are accessible within the same account structure makes it easier to use them for cross-margining,” she said, including the possibility of using crypto assets at traditional exchanges or broker-dealers, and vice versa. Citi intends to build infrastructure to support that, she said.
It's not surprising that banking giants are pushing further into the digital asset space. Institutional investors have been seeking exposure to the sector from traditional financial institutions for several years. What began with BlackRock offering exchange-traded funds to help more investors gain exposure has now spread to numerous banks and financial institutions, which continue to integrate their legacy financial services into the digital assets sector.
For example, Morgan Stanley, which oversees roughly $8 trillion in assets, has recently filed for bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded products and is exploring wallet technology across its wealth platform. It is also rolling out spot crypto trading on the E*TRADE platform and evaluating lending and yield opportunities tied to digital assets.
“We need to build this internally. We can’t just rent the technology,” the banking giant's recently appointed head of digital assets, Amy Golenberg, said at the Strategy World event in a presentation prior to Surendran.
Building for a 24/7 market
Citi, which connects to more than 220 payment and settlement networks globally, has also begun with private permissioned blockchains before expanding to public networks as regulations became clearer and client demand increased. Something similar to what another banking giant, JPMorgan, has done with its JPM Coin.
One live use case is Citi Token Services for cash, a 24/7 blockchain-based network used to move money within Citi’s global system. “As we move into the world of 24/7 assets like bitcoin, we definitely need 24/7 U.S. dollars or 24/7 digital money,” she said, adding that Citi’s internal systems are being adapted for round-the-clock support.
The 24/7 market is also something institutional clients have been asking legacy financial institutions for. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) said last month that it plans to introduce an around-the-clock, blockchain-based trading venue for tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds later this year.
NYSE's main competitor in the U.S., Nasdaq, revealed in December that it was planning to facilitate nearly round-the-clock trading for stocks and exchange-traded products (ETPs), in a bid to match the increasingly global nature of financial markets and investor beh
CitigroupMorgan StanleyBitcoin NewsCryptocurrencyWall Street
More For You
Barclays looks for tech provider for new blockchain settlement engine: Bloomberg
The U.K. bank would rival JPMorgan and others in using decentralized technology for banking services.
What to know:
- Barclays is exploring the creation of a blockchain platform for processes like payments.
- The London-based financial services giant is consulting with prospective technology providers on the development of such a platform.
- Barclays' blockchain-based plans could include stablecoins and tokenization.
Read full story
Latest Crypto News
Bitcoin's rebound cancelled as U.S. stocks fall, gold surges, amid mounting macro risks
Vitalik Buterin reveals his bold new plan to fix Ethereum’s scaling problem
Barclays looks for tech provider for new blockchain settlement engine: Bloomberg
Punters want crypto: UK Gambling Commission explores how to keep bettors on licensed sites
CoinDesk 20 performance update: Solana (SOL) falls 4.2%, leading index lower
The worst may lie ahead. Bitcoin chart revisits historic pattern.
Top Stories
Bitcoin ETF holders and treasury firms stack protection against price crash below $60,000, Deribit says
U.S. regulator's GENIUS pitch casts dark cloud over crypto sector's stablecoin model
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs set for biggest week in 6 after adding $1.1 billion in three days
Germany's AllUnity issues regulated stablecoin tied to safe haven Swiss franc
Disclaimer: The articles reposted on this site are sourced from public platforms and are provided for informational purposes only. They do not necessarily reflect the views of MEXC. All rights remain with the original authors. If you believe any content infringes on third-party rights, please contact crypto.news@mexc.com for removal. MEXC makes no guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the content and is not responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided. The content does not constitute financial, legal, or other professional advice, nor should it be considered a recommendation or endorsement by MEXC.
You May Also Like
Tether Gold Surges 11.3% vs Bitcoin: Why XAUT’s $2.97B Market Cap Is Drawing Attention
Tether Gold has captured market attention with an 11.3% gain against Bitcoin in 24 hours, pushing its market cap to $2.97 billion and securing position #33 among
Share
Blockchainmagazine2026/02/28 18:07
The largest long positions in BTC and ETH have suffered a combined loss of over $13 million, and have not yet reduced their positions.
PANews reported on February 28th that, according to HyperInsight monitoring, affected by the market downturn, the largest long whales holding positions in both
Share
PANews2026/02/28 18:20
Vitalik Buterin Reveals Ethereum’s Bold Plan to Stay Quantum-Secure and Simple!
Buterin unveils Ethereum’s strategy to tackle quantum security challenges ahead. Ethereum focuses on simplifying architecture while boosting security for users. Ethereum’s market stability grows as Buterin’s roadmap gains investor confidence. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has unveiled his long-term vision for the blockchain, focusing on making Ethereum quantum-secure while maintaining its simplicity for users. Buterin presented his roadmap at the Japanese Developer Conference, and splits the future of Ethereum into three phases: short-term, mid-term, and long-term. Buterin’s most ambitious goal for Ethereum is to safeguard the blockchain against the threats posed by quantum computing. The danger of such future developments is that the future may call into question the cryptographic security of most blockchain systems, and Ethereum will be able to remain ahead thanks to more sophisticated mathematical techniques to ensure the safety and integrity of its protocols. Buterin is committed to ensuring that Ethereum evolves in a way that not only meets today’s security challenges but also prepares for the unknowns of tomorrow. Also Read: Ethereum Giant The Ether Machine Takes Major Step Toward Going Public! However, in spite of such high ambitions, Buterin insisted that Ethereum also needed to simplify its architecture. An important aspect of this vision is to remove unnecessary complexity and make Ethereum more accessible and maintainable without losing its strong security capabilities. Security and simplicity form the core of Buterin’s strategy, as they guarantee that the users of Ethereum experience both security and smooth processes. Focus on Speed and Efficiency in the Short-Term In the short term, Buterin aims to enhance Ethereum’s transaction efficiency, a crucial step toward improving scalability and reducing transaction costs. These advantages are attributed to the fact that, within the mid-term, Ethereum is planning to enhance the speed of transactions in layer-2 networks. According to Butterin, this is part of Ethereum’s expansion, particularly because there is still more need to use blockchain technology to date. The other important aspect of Ethereum’s development is the layer-2 solutions. Buterin supports an approach in which the layer-2 networks are dependent on layer-1 to perform some essential tasks like data security, proof, and censorship resistance. This will enable the layer-2 systems of Ethereum to be concerned with verifying and sequencing transactions, which will improve the overall speed and efficiency of the network. Ethereum’s Market Stability Reflects Confidence in Long-Term Strategy Ethereum’s market performance has remained solid, with the cryptocurrency holding steady above $4,000. Currently priced at $4,492.15, Ethereum has experienced a slight 0.93% increase over the last 24 hours, while its trading volume surged by 8.72%, reaching $34.14 billion. These figures point to growing investor confidence in Ethereum’s long-term vision. The crypto community remains optimistic about Ethereum’s future, with many predicting the price could rise to $5,500 by mid-October. Buterin’s clear, forward-thinking strategy continues to build trust in Ethereum as one of the most secure and scalable blockchain platforms in the market. Also Read: Whales Dump 200 Million XRP in Just 2 Weeks – Is XRP’s Price on the Verge of Collapse? The post Vitalik Buterin Reveals Ethereum’s Bold Plan to Stay Quantum-Secure and Simple! appeared first on 36Crypto.
Share
Coinstats2025/09/18 01:22