Citi opens private markets with first tokenized depositary receipts

Citi issues and custodies tokenized private-share receipts

On 11 June 2026, Citi launched Digital Depositary Receipts on private shares. The launch marks the first time a global financial services company both issues and acts as custodian for tokenized depositary receipts that represent private companies. Investors hold the receipt rather than the underlying shares directly. Citi adapted its established depositary receipt product, long used to give investors exposure to public stocks, and applied it to private-market equity. The bank says the model offers issuers and investors a direct route into a historically illiquid part of capital markets.

SIX blockchain infrastructure records the tokenized receipts

The solution tokenizes shares on blockchain infrastructure operated by SIX, which Citi describes as one of the first fully regulated digital central securities depositories. Citi serves as custodian on the platform and handles settlement and safekeeping of the tokenized receipts. The bank argues that acting as a single, trusted issuer and custodian reduces complexity and hidden costs compared with third-party special purpose vehicles (SPVs). Other structures such as SPVs still serve a function, Citi said, but they can require investors to trust that the vehicle holds the underlying stock.

Kaleido becomes the first issuer on the platform

The product went live with an inaugural transaction involving Kaleido, an institutional tokenization and digital asset platform and a Citi portfolio company. Citi distributed the receipts to investors within its Wealth business, with support from its Secondary Private Markets team. The launch drew together Citi's Issuer Services, Custody, Wealth, Markets, and Ventures units in what the bank called a coordinated effort to build a scalable model for future issuances.

"Private companies like ours are scaling faster than the structures around us. This model finally brings a level of professionalism and transparency to private market capital formation that we've never had access to.", 11 June 2026. — Steve Cerveny, Founder and CEO, Kaleido

Citi opens private markets without a public listing

As initial public offering (IPO) timelines stretch, private companies are seeking alternate routes to liquidity outside fragmented secondary markets. Citi's structure lets issuers reach investors without a public listing or changes to underlying ownership rights. Companies keep control over voting and a simpler cap-table management structure while broadening investor outreach. The receipts represent economic exposure and contractual claims rather than direct ownership of the underlying shares.

Wealth clients gain access through a familiar structure

For Wealth clients, the receipts integrate into existing platforms, adding private-market exposure through a structure investors already understand. Citi said the move aims to enhance client optionality while keeping the operational safeguards investors expect.

"As digital assets reshape how financial markets evolve, our priority is ensuring Citi Wealth clients can engage with these developments in a secure and familiar way.", 11 June 2026. — Deborah Querub, Head of Digital Assets for Wealth, Citi

Digital assets move further into regulated finance

The launch lands as banks move traditional assets onto blockchain rails. USDC, a major dollar stablecoin, traded at $1.00 with a $74.79 billion market cap at the time of publication (NewsFlash, 15 June 2026). Citi plans to extend the offering across other financial market infrastructures and multiple blockchain networks. The bank is also among major US banks developing a shared tokenized deposit network through The Clearing House, targeting a launch in the first half of 2027.

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