Citi opens new route into private markets with tokenized share offering

The bank said it is using blockchain technology to connect investors with private company equity through digital depositary receipts.\nWhat to know : Citigroup has introduced Digital Depositary Receipts, a blockchain-based product that lets wealthy and institutional investors gain exposure to private company shares through securities issued and held by the bank. The new structure adapts traditional depositary receipts for private markets and records them on blockchain infrastructure run by Swiss operator SIX, with Citi acting as both issuer and custodian. Citi says the product is part of a broader push to tokenize traditional financial assets, and it plans to expand the offering over time, including to public blockchains, as banks develop shared tokenized deposit networks.