Citi rolls out tokenized shares of private companies

Citigroup Launches Blockchain Platform for Trading Tokenized Private Company Shares

Citigroup is rolling out a blockchain-based platform that will allow wealthy and institutional clients to trade tokenized shares of private companies, a move the bank hopes will be adopted by other Wall Street firms, according to The Wall Street Journal.seekingalpha

The platform uses tokenized depositary receipts — securities that represent fractional ownership in corporate shares — which are authorized, minted, and structured on-chain, with Citigroup serving as both issuer and custodian. The bank is currently in talks with some of the largest private companies to secure their participation in the system.wublockchain

Building on the SDX Partnership

The launch builds on groundwork Citi laid in May 2025, when it announced a partnership with SIX Digital Exchange, the digital assets arm of Switzerland’s main stock exchange. Under that arrangement, Citi operates as a custodian and tokenization agent on SDX’s regulated blockchain-based Central Securities Depository platform, converting traditionally paper-heavy private-market transactions into digital form.coindesk

The platform initially excludes U.S. investors but is otherwise global, with an early focus on Switzerland, Singapore, and other parts of Asia. Citi has indicated it plans to expand access to U.S. clients should regulatory conditions allow.thedefiant

Riding a Wave of Private Market Demand

The initiative comes as high-profile companies including SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI continue to delay public listings, fueling investor appetite for alternative routes into private markets. The pre-IPO shares market has been estimated at roughly $75 billion, yet it remains mired in inefficient, paper-based processes that tokenization aims to streamline.yahoo

Citi’s own research arm recently projected the broader tokenized securities market will grow from approximately $17 billion today to as much as $5.5 trillion by 2030. The bank is far from alone in the push: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and other major banks recently announced plans to launch a separate tokenized deposit network through the Clearing House, while Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon have partnered to tokenize money-market funds.yahoo

“This initiative will distinguish itself in the industry by using SDX’s regulated infrastructure,” Citi said when the SDX partnership was first announced. Whether other banks follow Citi’s model into the private-company space may depend on how quickly the regulatory landscape in the United States evolves to accommodate these new digital instruments.finextra