Citi Investor Services said on August 18, 2026 that Bitcoin will become the first digital asset available through Custody+, the bank’s new suite of near-real-time custody solutions. Amit Agarwal, Head of Custody at Citi Investor Services, said the build reflects a multi-year push to match infrastructure to the speed of clients’ strategies.
Citi expects to go live with digital asset custody later this year, starting with Bitcoin custody, according to the bank.
Custody+ Cuts Settlement Times Across Citi’s Network
Custody+ launched alongside the U.S. rollout of Citi’s patented Single Event Processing technology, which the bank says now handles over 80% of its total event volume in real time.
According to Citi’s Custody+ announcement, the U.S. rollout has already cut processing times for voluntary corporate actions by up to 92%, with 96% of U.S. voluntary events now completed in under two hours. Citi’s Custody business supports clients across more than 100 markets, including 62 where it operates proprietary infrastructure.
Bitcoin sits under a section of Custody+ that Citi calls infrastructure for diverse operating models, alongside a white-label platform for banking clients. Citi says the crypto offering will run on its common digital asset architecture, so clients move between traditional and Bitcoin custody inside one framework rather than juggling separate systems.
Bitcoin Joins a Platform Built for Tokenized Deposits
The Bitcoin plan extends a digital asset strategy Citi has been building for several years through its Citi Integrated Digital Assets Platform, which already issues and moves tokenized deposits.
That platform already supports near-instant movement of tokenized cash between Citi branches on a 24/7 basis, the kind of always-on settlement Citi now wants to extend to Bitcoin holdings.
The move places Citi alongside other regulated players racing to build the plumbing around crypto custody rather than just trading access. Payward, Kraken’s parent company, filed for a national trust bank charter built around the same kind of regulated custody Citi is now adding to Custody+, a step detailed in our coverage of Payward’s national trust bank charter filing.
Custody entering the picture alongside ETF inflows and corporate treasury buying adds another layer to how traditional finance is positioning around Bitcoin.
The Timeline Citi Has Set for Bitcoin Custody
Citi has not named an exact launch date beyond “later this year,” but Agarwal’s framing ties the Bitcoin rollout to the same infrastructure investment already live for traditional assets, not a separate side project. That distinction matters for how fast the bank can scale it once it launches, since Custody+ is built as one modular system rather than a bolt-on crypto unit.
What this means for you: If you hold or are considering holding Bitcoin, a major global bank offering custody through the same infrastructure it uses for traditional assets is a sign that institutional-grade storage options for Bitcoin are becoming more mainstream, not a signal to change your own custody setup overnight.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Do your own research before making any investment decisions.
