Citigroup has unveiled its first crypto product to reshape the landscape of institutional finance. The newly launched “Citi Token Services” represents a significant step into the world of digital assets and blockchain technology. It also marks the entry into web3 of one of the largest financial institutions in the world.
Citigroup is an American multinational investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate Travelers Group in 1998.
Citigroup owns Citicorp, the holding company for Citibank, as well as several international subsidiaries. It has been a major player in some of the world’s most innovative breakthroughs in banking, including the pioneering of the world’s first ATM.
Features of the Citi Token Services
Citi Token Services is designed to leverage the power of blockchain and smart contracts to provide institutional clients with innovative solutions. This move reveals Citigroup’s commitment to modernizing financial services in response to the growing demand for 24/7 programmable financial solutions.
Furthermore, the service offers a wide range of solutions tailored to institutional clients’ needs, including cross-border payments, liquidity management, and automated trade finance services. It utilizes private, permissioned blockchain technology that is owned and managed by the institution itself.
Citigroup is now among a list of legacy institutions providing blockchain-based services to clients around the world, which includes PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, HSBC, JP Morgan, and others. The potential of the blockchain market has increased over the years, with the crypto market having a market capitalization of over $1 trillion in the last nine months.
Citigroup and Maersk
It is worth noting that before the final launch of the Citi Token Services, the company and Maersk, a prominent shipping company, ran a pilot to ascertain the efficiency of the project.
This pioneering technology streamlines the entire process, enabling instant payments and reducing transaction processing times from days to minutes.
Additionally, Citigroup has also implemented the Citi Token Services in a global cash management pilot program. This initiative empowers clients to seamlessly transfer liquidity between different Citi branches on a 24/7 basis.
