Citigroup has reportedly set up a “digital assets group” to offer clients access to cryptocurrencies, which will operate within the bank’s wealth management division.

• Citigroup has established a “digital assets group” within its wealth management unit, according to a memo to staff seen by Bloomberg.
• Iain Armitage, global head of capital markets for Citi Private Bank, and Rob Jasminski, who oversees the bank’s investment management arm globally, said in the memo that the new digital assets group will be led by Alex Kriete and Greg Girasole, the publication conveyed. They will serve as liaisons to “all other business groups at Citi who are expanding into this rapidly emerging space also,” the memo says. In addition:

They will be responsible for developing our future product capabilities, client delivery mechanisms and thought leadership around all digital assets.

• The memo further explains that Citigroup plans to help clients invest in cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), as well as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

• In May, the Financial Times reported that Citigroup was contemplating launching crypto services after seeing a “very rapid” accumulation of interest in bitcoin across a broad spectrum of clients, including large asset managers.
• In March, the firm said bitcoin was at a tipping point and could become the preferred currency for international trade.
• At the end of May, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser gave her testimony on cryptocurrency before the Senate banking committee. She stated that Citigroup was taking a “measured approach” to cryptocurrency as the bank sought “to understand changes in the digital asset space and the use of distributed ledger technology, including demand and interest by our clients, regulatory developments and technology advancements.”