BlockBeats News, August 18th, Citigroup plans to launch a Bitcoin custody service later this year, allowing institutional clients to hold BTC alongside traditional assets such as stocks and bonds on its newly launched Custody+ platform. The specific launch date has not been announced yet.

Citigroup stated that Custody+ aims to enhance custody, settlement, foreign exchange, and cash management services, with initial support for Bitcoin. Citigroup's custody business currently covers over 100 markets, with 62 markets having proprietary custody networks. With the introduction of BTC custody, institutional clients will not need to rely on external cryptocurrency custodians and can manage traditional assets and Bitcoin through Citigroup's unified platform.

Citigroup mentioned that its new system has already achieved real-time processing for over 80% of relevant custody events, reducing processing time by up to 92%, with 96% of events being completed within 2 hours.

As the regulatory environment in the United States improves, large financial institutions are accelerating their entry into the cryptocurrency custody space. BNY Mellon started offering cryptocurrency custody services to some U.S. clients in 2022, while institutions like Fidelity Digital Assets and Coinbase have also entered the institutional-grade digital asset custody sector.