# Citigroup Will Let Rich Clients Use Private Blockchain to Transfer Assets

Source: https://decrypt.co/197602/citigroup-launches-smart-contract-digital-token-service-for-institutions
Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Citigroup-Will-Let-Rich-Clients-Use-Private-Blockchain-to-Transfer-Assets?index=0x65089b0f3e02c46fe86c9d3a0620575be3520b075e380d797e9862ae4d1250667ae2b74e
Submitted by basedsatoshi.eth on 2023-09-18 UTC, 2 upvotes, 0 comments

## Summary

Citigroup has announced Citi Token Services, a digital token product for institutional clients that uses blockchain and smart contract technology to send money across borders quickly. Citi said the product runs on a private blockchain rather than a public one like Bitcoin or Ethereum, and that it will provide automated trade finance solutions on a 24/7 basis. In a pilot with shipping company Maersk, Citi claimed the technology is expected to reduce transaction processing times from days to minutes. Citi Token Services has also been applied to a global cash management pilot that lets clients move liquidity between Citi branches.

## Article

Investment banking giant Citigroup today announced the launch of a digital token service for institutions.

The Citi Token Services product uses blockchain and smart contract technology to allow its institutional clients to send money across borders quickly, Citi said Monday. The technology will use a private blockchain—not a public one like Bitcoin or Ethereum.

It added that Citi Token Services will provide automated trade finance solutions on a 24/7 basis.

“Digital asset technologies have the potential to upgrade the regulated financial system by applying new technologies to existing legal instruments and well-established regulatory frameworks,” Citi’s global head of services Shahmir Khaliq said in a statement.

The idea, according to Citi, is to streamline the process of making large transactions by digitizing bank guarantees and letters of credit in the trade finance ecosystem.

The bank worked with integrated logistics company Maersk on a pilot to see how it would work in the shipping industry, Citi’s Monday statement said. The shipping industry can be a challenge for banks as collecting payments and processing transactions can be cumbersome and complex.

Citi claimed that the technology used in the pilot “is expected to reduce transaction processing times from days to minutes.”

Maersk’s regional treasury manager for the Americas Marie-Laure Martin added: “We are pleased to have collaborated with Citi in the successful test pilots for the guarantee solution using digitized tokens and smart contracts.”

Citi Token Services has also been applied to a global cash management pilot, enabling its institutional clients to transfer liquidity between Citi branches on a 24/7 basis, the bank added.

In a March report, Citi said that the digital asset world was nearing an “inflection point” and that crypto adoption will be powered primarily by the rise of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and the tokenization of real-world assets.

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