Citi Plans to Launch Crypto Custody Services in 2025

One of Wall Street's Biggest Names Moves Into Crypto Custody

Citigroup is preparing to launch crypto custody services before the end of this year, according to a report from Ledger Insights. The move would make Citi one of the largest traditional financial institutions to offer direct custody of digital assets, putting it alongside a growing group of major banks that are building out crypto infrastructure for institutional clients.

Crypto custody refers to the safekeeping of digital assets on behalf of clients, typically institutions such as hedge funds, asset managers, and pension funds. Unlike holding cash or stocks, custody of crypto requires specialized key management technology to secure private keys, which control access to funds on a blockchain. Getting this right is critical: losing or exposing a private key can mean permanent loss of the underlying assets.

For banks, offering custody is often a gateway product. Once an institution trusts a custodian with its assets, it tends to pull in additional services like trading, lending, and reporting. Citi moving into this space signals that demand from institutional clients has reached a level the bank can no longer ignore.

Why 2025 Is the Moment for Bank-Led Crypto Infrastructure

The timing is not accidental. Regulatory clarity in the United States has improved noticeably heading into 2025. The Securities and Exchange Commission under new leadership has pulled back on several high-profile enforcement actions, and there is growing momentum in Congress around clearer rules for digital assets. That shift has given large banks more confidence to build products they might have shelved two or three years ago.

There is also a demand signal from clients. Spot Bitcoin ETFs, approved in the US in early 2024, brought a wave of institutional allocations to crypto. Asset managers holding ETF shares still need custody solutions for any direct crypto holdings, and many are looking to consolidate those relationships with banks they already work with.

Citi has been watching this space for some time. The bank has explored blockchain-based solutions in areas like trade finance and cross-border payments through its institutional divisions. A crypto custody offering would be a natural extension of that work, directed at a client base that is increasingly asking for it.

What This Means for the Broader Market

Citi entering crypto custody adds institutional weight to an area that has until recently been dominated by crypto-native firms like Coinbase Custody and BitGo, along with a handful of bank-affiliated players such as BNY Mellon, which launched its own digital asset custody platform in 2022.

Competition from a bank of Citi's size could push fees lower and raise the compliance bar across the industry. Institutional clients often prefer bank custodians because they are subject to familiar regulatory frameworks, carry established reputations, and can bundle crypto custody alongside existing prime brokerage or cash management relationships.

For crypto markets broadly, the entry of more bank custodians tends to reduce one of the friction points that has kept some institutions on the sidelines. If large allocators can hold digital assets through the same counterparties they already use for equities and fixed income, the operational argument against crypto exposure weakens.

The Ledger Insights report does not specify which digital assets Citi intends to support at launch, or in which jurisdictions the service will initially be available. Those details, including any regulatory approvals required, will shape how quickly the offering can scale.

What is clear is that the direction of travel among global banks has shifted. Custody is increasingly seen as a foundational piece of the digital asset stack, and Citi moving to build it out this year puts pressure on peers that have not yet made a similar commitment.