When Citi Met AVAX: Banking Giant Taps Avalanche for Tokenization Pilot

Avalanche continues to build bridges with the traditional finance world.

Global bank Citi announced Wednesday that it used Avalanche—the blockchain behind the 10th biggest cryptocurrency, AVAX—to explore the tokenization of private funds. 

The global bank said that it worked with Wellington Management and WisdomTree to carry out its proof-of-concept trial. The takeaway? “Smart-contract capabilities” could be used to “deliver new functionality and operational efficiencies.”

Citi said that private markets have a “complex and manual” infrastructure. Avalanche’s tech—specifically smart contracts—could help move assets around in a quick and efficient fashion. 

“By testing the tokenization of private assets, we are exploring the feasibility to open-up new operating models and create efficiencies for the broader market,” said Nisha Surendran, emerging solutions lead for Citi Digital Assets, said in the announcement.

Avalanche is an Ethereum competitor that encourages developers to build applications upon its network. Other blockchains—like Ethereum’s—can be comparatively slow and costly. Avalanche promises a cheap and fast blockchain. 

Last November, investment banking giant J.P. Morgan said it had used the Avalanche blockchain to tokenize portfolios in streamline portfolio management.

AVAX is now priced at $41.34 , a 6% 24-hour rise, according to CoinGecko.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.