Citigroup Adds Bitcoin to Its New Custody+ Platform

Citigroup announced the launch of a bitcoin custody service under a new brand called Custody+. The bank plans to roll out the service by the end of 2026 and let institutional clients hold traditional securities and cryptocurrency through a single technology platform. The Block reported the news, citing the bank's official statement.

What the bank confirmed

Citi announced the plans on Tuesday, August 18. Custody+ will become a separate suite of custody and settlement tools that will add support for Bitcoin alongside traditional assets. According to the bank, clients will get access to securities and cryptocurrency through a single operating model, without needing to switch between different service systems.

The idea is not new for Citi. Back in October last year, the bank talked about plans to launch institutional bitcoin custody during 2026. Now those plans have a concrete product, a name and a clearer timeline.

Banks used to delegate such functions to partners or specialized subsidiaries. Citi is now building the crypto custody infrastructure on its own, inside its Investor Services platform.

Demand for such solutions is partly driven by spot bitcoin ETFs. Fund managers need custodians trusted by regulators and large institutional clients, not just specialized crypto firms.

What Custody+ includes

The platform covers more than just asset storage. It includes real-time asset servicing, instant settlements, liquidity management tools and AI-powered market intelligence. According to the bank, more than 80% of its asset-servicing event volume is already processed in real time.

Custody+ clients will mostly be asset managers, hedge funds and ETF issuers who already use Citi's traditional custody services for stocks and bonds. For them, moving into crypto means expanding an existing relationship, not signing with a separate provider.

The bank also pointed to Citi Token Services, a platform that already lets clients move tokenized deposits around the clock in select markets. Custody+ extends that direction by adding cryptocurrency to the list of assets accessible through the same infrastructure.

Combining traditional assets and cryptocurrency in a single custody framework matches a broader request from the bank's institutional clients: fewer separate service providers, fewer integrations and fewer points where reporting has to be reconciled.

"Custody+ is the product of a multi-year commitment to building infrastructure that matches the speed of our clients' strategies. We have designed each solution to help clients simplify their operating models amid increasing complexities in the operating environment."

- Amit Agarwal, Head of Custody at Citi Investor Services, from the bank's statement, August 18, 2026

Big banks aren't waiting on each other

Citi is not the only major player moving in this direction. In January, the New York Stock Exchange said it was working with Citi and BNY on a blockchain platform for tokenized stocks and ETFs. In February, Morgan Stanley applied for a national trust bank charter for an entity that would handle crypto custody.

Until recently, bitcoin custody for large investors was mostly handled by specialized wallets and crypto exchanges. Traditional banks are now trying to offer an alternative inside the infrastructure institutional clients already know, where compliance and audit processes are already in place.

Before banks entered this space, specialized firms such as Coinbase Custody, BitGo and Anchorage Digital were the main custodians for institutional bitcoin holdings. Citi and other banks entering this market raise the competition for clients who need custody for billions of dollars in assets.

US regulators have not yet passed a single federal law on crypto market structure, and banks are taking different routes: some through exchange partnerships, some through their own licenses, and some, like Citi, through expanding an existing custody platform.

Similar moves in recent months show that large banks are competing on speed to market rather than waiting for full regulatory clarity from Washington. Each new custody product weakens the argument that institutional clients have nowhere safe to hold cryptocurrency.

• Custody+ will combine traditional securities and bitcoin in one custody service system.
• The platform will add real-time settlement and liquidity management tools.
• Citi Token Services already allows round-the-clock transfers of tokenized deposits in select markets.
• Morgan Stanley and the NYSE-Citi-BNY alliance are moving in a similar direction at the same time.

When the service will launch

The bank did not name an exact launch date, only saying "later this year." Custody+ will start with bitcoin specifically: a wider set of crypto assets was not mentioned in the current plans.

Even without an exact launch date, the fact that a bank of this size is talking about Custody+ publicly shifts how conservative investors view the crypto market, especially those who have been waiting for signals from traditional financial institutions.

For clients who already use Citi's traditional services, the new product will let them skip opening separate accounts with specialized crypto custodians or exchanges and instead work within a single banking infrastructure.

For the market, it is another sign that large financial institutions no longer treat cryptocurrency as an experimental niche. The infrastructure Citi is building targets clients who already work with the bank through traditional services and want access to digital assets without switching providers.

Demand for crypto custody services was already growing before this, driven by trusts and pension funds, but a bank the size of Citi entering the market adds weight in the eyes of regulators and auditors. The coming months will show whether Citi adds other assets beyond bitcoin to the service, and whether other major US and European banks follow.