Citibank To Develop Bitcoin Custody Services In Partnership With Swiss Firm Metaco

Banking giant Citibank has announced that it has partnered with Swiss firm Metaco to develop a digital asset custody platform. The platform’s integration will be with Securities Services and will initially focus on tokenized services. 

A Focus On Tokenized Securities 

Citibank’s collaboration with Metaco will focus on tokenized securities, a representation of stocks and bonds that are transferred and settled using blockchain technology, an official from Citibank stated in an email communication. Citibank manages over $27 trillion in assets and realizes that the expertise of Metaco is crucial in creating its planned digital assets custody platform. 

According to one report, the partnership will see Metaco’s digital solutions and technology merged with Citibank’s custody network and create a platform that would enable consumers to retain and settle their digital assets. 

Expanding Digital Asset Capabilities 

The partnership between Citibank and Metaco will also greatly help the former to expand its capabilities by facilitating the inclusion of digital assets through its current operational, technological, and service approach. There is considerable excitement around the partnership, with Okan Pekin, Citibank’s Global Head of Securities Services, stating, 

“We are witnessing the increasing digitization of traditional investment assets along with new native digital assets. We are innovating and developing new capabilities to support digital asset classes that are becoming increasingly relevant to our clients,”

Citigroup is not the first financial institution that has partnered with Metaco for their digital asset services in recent years, with others, including Union Bank of the Philippines, BBVA, DBS Bank, and Standard Chartered, also approaching the firm. Citigroup, like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, offers Bitcoin Futures trading and had, back in 2021, announced plans to hire over 100 more employees for its division of digital assets for its institutional clients. 

A Market Defining Moment 

Metaco is one of the leading providers of technology to financial institutions within the digital asset space and has worked on numerous significant implementations with a host of firms, including the likes of BaFin, Banco de Espaa, FINMA, and MAS. The CEO and founder of Metaco commented on the partnership with Citibank, stating, 

“We are thrilled to partner with Citi, one of the top securities services businesses, to support their mission to bridge digital and traditional assets.”

He also called the collaboration a market-defining moment for the institutional adoption of digital assets. Metaco was founded in 2015 in Switzerland and looks to enable financial and non-financial organizations to manage their digital asset business securely and profit from the ever-expanding digital asset market. Citi, on the other hand, has a presence in over 160 countries and operates over 200 million customer accounts.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.