Citigroup on June 11, 2026, began rolling out a product that allows wealthy clients and institutional investors to trade shares of private companies as tokens on a blockchain, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
The product is initially open only to non-U.S. investors and operates on SIX’s blockchain infrastructure in Switzerland, while Citi acts as the issuer and custodian. This move aims to create a more structured channel into private markets, as many major tech companies remain private longer and demand for pre-IPO shares continues to rise.
How Citi’s Tokenized Receipts Work
Citi’s new product is built on a tokenized depositary receipts structure. These are securities representing interests tied to private company shares, issued by Citi and recorded as tokens on a blockchain.
Citi also serves as the custodian for the underlying assets, placing the product closer to traditional securities infrastructure rather than an independent token traded outside the banking system. The product is currently only open to non-U.S. investors within Citi’s wealth and institutional client segments.
The bank will apply transaction and maintenance fees, but has not yet announced the specific fee schedule. The infrastructure currently operates on Switzerland’s SIX blockchain. Citi stated it could expand to other blockchain networks and allow other banks to use this infrastructure in the future.
Kaleido Marks the First Transaction
The first transaction on the platform involved Kaleido, a company that provides tokenization and digital asset infrastructure for institutions. According to the WSJ, a Citi wealth client invested in Kaleido through the tokenized depositary receipt model.
The selection of Kaleido carries its own significance as the company operates in the exact sector Citi seeks to commercialize: bringing private assets onto financial institution-controlled blockchain infrastructure. In this transaction, Kaleido serves as both the investment asset and a real-world example of the type of market Citi aims to expand.
However, Citi has not disclosed the transaction size, the number of participating investors, or the specific terms of the receipt.
Why Citi Is Targeting Private Shares
Citi is entering this space as private markets become a larger component of wealthy and institutional investor portfolios. Companies like SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI are highly sought after pre-IPO, but access is often constrained by investor qualifications, share transfer rights, and tight control by the issuing companies themselves.
Previously, investors seeking exposure to this asset class typically went through special-purpose vehicles, secondary funds, or bespoke agreements. Those structures can be complex, heavily layered with fees, and it is not always clear what rights the investor actually holds regarding the underlying shares.
Citi is attempting to position its new product as a more structured alternative: featuring a major bank acting as issuer and custodian, receipts representing the assets, and transaction records on a blockchain. These aspects distinguish the product from traditional private share access channels, which are often fragmented and harder to track.
Wall Street Moves Beyond Pilots
Citi’s product emerges amidst a broader wave on Wall Street. Major banks including JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citi, and Wells Fargo are participating in a plan to build a tokenized deposits network in the U.S., projected to launch in the first half of 2027. The network, operated by The Clearing House, aims to support 24/7 payments, real-time liquidity management, and cross-border transactions.
In the securities sector, the NYSE, Nasdaq, Securitize, BNY Mellon, and numerous other financial institutions are also testing or developing infrastructure for tokenized securities. Tokenized money-market funds and tokenized Treasuries are currently the segments with the clearest use cases because the underlying assets are more standardized, highly liquid, and easier to price than private company shares.
Total RWA value in 2025 chart. Source: RWA.xyz
According to RWA.xyz data, more than $25 billion in real-world assets had been brought on-chain by the end of 2025, though this figure reflects the scale of tokenization rather than actual secondary market liquidity.
The Liquidity Question
Citi’s greatest risk lies not in whether it can tokenize shares, but in whether those tokens can be traded with sufficient liquidity. Private shares are inherently difficult to value because companies do not report publicly like listed enterprises. Pricing typically relies on the most recent funding round, isolated secondary transactions, or internal valuations.
The rights of token holders remain a key point requiring clarification, spanning from voting rights and economic rights to how receipts handle dividends or transfer restrictions. These details will determine whether the product can scale beyond its initial client base.
The participation of the private companies themselves is also critical, as many large startups tightly control their cap tables and secondary trading. Without explicit approval from the share-issuing company, investors will find it difficult to assess whether the token is tied to valid shares or is merely a product replicating the value of private shares.
What Comes Next for Citi
In the short term, Citi’s product remains a controlled market test. Key factors to watch include how many more private companies Citi can bring onto the platform, whether transaction volumes grow large enough to generate secondary liquidity, and when the product will open to U.S. investors.
Citi holds advantages in its major bank brand, wealth/institutional client network, and custody capabilities. However, the product will only become truly significant if the bank can onboard high-quality private companies to the platform while clarifying receipt holder rights and transfer conditions.
This move demonstrates that tokenization is advancing deeper into traditional capital markets infrastructure, where the core challenges involve not just blockchain technology, but custody, securities regulation, settlement, and asset ownership rights.
