Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions Partners with Maersk for Blockchain-Based Services
Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions announced a partnership with Maersk to offer blockchain-based digital services to institutional clients. Financial institutions are becoming more open to digital assets and experimenting with new offerings in the space.
Citi to Implement Tokenized Deposits and Payments
Citi plans to expand its offerings by allowing clients to make tokenized cross-border deposits. This service is targeted towards powerful institutional clients. The collaboration with Maersk involves the use of smart contracts to send tokenized payments to service providers, reducing transaction times significantly.
The new system aims to make trading and payments across time zones faster and more efficient.
Citi Has Been Exploring the Crypto Space
While Monday’s news may come as a surprise to some, Citi has been testing the waters of the digital asset space for a while. The bank had discussions with crypto custodian Metaco, which Ripple recently acquired, in June. They also worked with Metaco’s Harmonize platform for asset tokenization.
The ultimate goal is to enable the conversion of funds into tokenized assets that can be transmitted instantly, even outside of business hours. Security measures such as multi-key wallets are employed to protect assets from hacking and theft.
In October 2022, Citigroup provided $6 million in seed funding to Hong Kong-based asset manager Xalts, which operates in the digital assets and ETF space.
Hot Take: Citi Embraces Blockchain for Institutional Clients
Citi’s partnership with Maersk demonstrates its commitment to leveraging blockchain technology for institutional clients. By offering tokenized deposits and payments, Citi aims to streamline cross-border transactions and enhance efficiency for its powerful clientele. This move reflects the growing acceptance of digital assets in the financial industry and positions Citi as a leader in the adoption of blockchain solutions. As more financial institutions explore the potential of blockchain, Citi is taking proactive steps to ensure it remains at the forefront of this transformative technology.