Citi Tokenizes Private Shares for Wealthy Clients

Citigroup is building a blockchain service that lets wealthy and institutional clients trade exposure to private companies through tokenized depositary receipts. The bank is starting with foreign investors and plans to expand access to U.S. clients later.

Artem Korenyuk, Citi's global lead for digital assets enterprise alignment and services enablement, said the goal is to let clients hold private company exposure "right next to their Apple stock." The bank is already speaking with some of the world's largest private companies about joining the platform, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The structure relies on authorized and tokenized depositary receipts. Depositary receipts are securities that let investors hold exposure to companies through a regulated instrument. In Citi's model, those receipts are issued and custodied by the bank, then represented on a blockchain run by Switzerland-based SIX. Citi said it may later extend the service to other blockchain networks.

Korenyuk positioned the product as a cleaner alternative to special-purpose vehicles, which are often used to access private companies but have drawn scrutiny over transparency and investor protections. "With those, investors don't know what they're actually buying," he said. "This is a very clear alternative model."

Citi's initial trade involved wealth clients investing in Kaleido, an institutional tokenization and digital-asset platform. The bank said the launch required coordination across its five business lines, a sign of how seriously it is treating digital asset infrastructure.

The move follows Citigroup's recent participation in a JPMorgan-backed consortium planning a tokenized deposit network as early as the first half of 2027. That project is expected to support around-the-clock settlement for large global clients.

For now, the product is available only to foreign investors. Citi plans to open it to U.S. investors later. The bank will charge transaction and maintenance-based fees, and said its infrastructure could also be used by other banks.

The project reflects a broader push by major banks to bring traditional assets and money movement onto blockchain rails. Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and other institutions are working on tokenized deposit systems, while tokenized money-market funds and securities platforms are gaining traction across Wall Street.

For Citi, private shares are the next test. If the model works, tokenized depositary receipts could give investors a more transparent route into private markets while giving banks a new way to compete in the race to modernize capital markets.