The world’s largest bank, Citibank, has established a partnership with Swiss company Metaco to create a platform for the custody of digital assets. With Securities Services, the platform will be integrated, with the first emphasis being on tokenized services.
A Special Emphasis on Tokenized Securities
Citibank’s collaboration with Metaco will center on tokenized securities, which are representations of stocks and bonds that are transferred and settled utilizing blockchain technology, according to a Citibank official via email. Citibank manages over $27 trillion in assets and recognizes that Metaco’s expertise is critical in developing its planned digital asset custody platform.
According to one report, the collaboration will combine Metaco’s digital solutions and technology with Citibank’s custody network to establish a platform that will allow consumers to retain and settle their digital assets.
Increasing the Capabilities of Digital Assets
Citibank and Metaco’s collaboration will also greatly assist the former in expanding its capabilities by facilitating the inclusion of digital assets through its current operational, technological, and service approach. The partnership has generated a lot of buzzes, with Okan Pekin, Citibank’s Global Head of Securities Services, saying, we are seeing an increase in the digitization of traditional investment assets as well as new native digital assets. We are innovating and developing new capabilities for supporting digital asset classes that are becoming increasingly important to our clients.
In recent years, financial institutions other than Citigroup, such as Union Bank of the Philippines, BBVA, DBS Bank, and Standard Chartered, have also approached Metaco to partner with them for their digital asset services. In 2021, Citigroup announced intentions to add over 100 more workers for its division of digital assets for its institutional clients such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, Citigroup offers Bitcoin Futures trading.
A Market Defining Moment
Metaco is a leading provider of technology to financial institutions in the digital asset space, having worked on several remarkable implementations with a variety of organizations such as BaFin, Banco de Espaa, FINMA, and MAS. Metaco’s CEO and founder commented on the partnership with Citibank, saying, we are thrilled to be working with Citi, one of the world’s leading financial services companies, to support their mission of bridging digital and traditional assets.
He also described the collaboration as a watershed moment in the institutional adoption of digital assets. Metaco was founded in Switzerland in 2015 with the goal of enabling financial and non-financial organizations to securely manage their digital asset business and profit from the ever-expanding digital asset market. Citi, meanwhile, operates over 200 million customer accounts and has a presence in over 160 countries.
