Citi & Morgan Stanley Grow Bitcoin Crypto Custody & Trading

Citigroup is preparing to launch institutional bitcoin custody later this year, while Morgan Stanley deepens its push into crypto trading and tokenization, according to executives from both banks speaking at the World Strategy 2026 forum on Thursday. The twin announcements underscore how Wall Street's largest institutions are racing to embed digital assets into legacy financial systems as client demand intensifies.

Citi Aims to Make Bitcoin Bankable

Nisha Surendran, who heads Citigroup's digital asset custody product buildout, described the initiative as an effort to make bitcoin bankable, beginning with institutional-grade key management and wallet infrastructure. The broader ambition, Surendran said, is to fold bitcoin into the same custody, reporting, and control frameworks that clients already use for equities and bonds.

Citi intends to offer what Surendran called a single service model spanning crypto, securities, and money. Bitcoin positions will flow into the same reporting channels and tax workflows as traditional assets. Clients will be able to instruct transactions through SWIFT, APIs, or user interfaces, with the bank handling all clearing and settlement complexity behind the scenes. From the client's perspective, Surendran said, they simply instruct and Citi manages the rest.

We will be offering our clients a single service model across crypto, securities and money.

— Nisha Surendran, Head of Digital Asset Custody Product Buildout, Citigroup

What Are Citi's Bitcoin Custody Plans?

Citi's bitcoin custody plans center on integrating digital assets into existing institutional account structures so that clients never need to manage wallets, private keys, or one-time addresses directly. Surendran noted that surveys of Citi's institutional clients confirmed they want bitcoin exposure within familiar banking systems rather than standalone crypto infrastructure.

The bank also envisions cross-margining crypto alongside traditional assets. Surendran described a future account structure in which U.S. Treasuries, foreign bonds, tokenized money market funds, and bitcoin all sit under a single master safekeeping or custody account. She added that having all these assets accessible within the same framework makes it easier to deploy them for cross-margining, including the possibility of using crypto assets at traditional exchanges or broker-dealers, and vice versa. Citi intends to build the infrastructure to support that unified structure, Surendran said.

Morgan Stanley Ramps Crypto Trading and Tokenization

Morgan Stanley, which manages approximately $8 trillion in client assets, is expanding aggressively into digital assets on multiple fronts. The bank has recently filed for bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana exchange-traded products and is exploring wallet technology across its wealth platform. It is also rolling out spot crypto trading on the E*TRADE platform and evaluating lending and yield opportunities tied to digital assets.

Amy Golenberg, Morgan Stanley's recently appointed head of digital assets, told attendees at the World Strategy event that the firm needs to build its crypto infrastructure internally rather than rent the technology. That posture signals a deep long-term commitment to owning the full digital-asset stack rather than relying on third-party providers.

We need to build this internally. We can't just rent the technology.

— Amy Golenberg, Head of Digital Assets, Morgan Stanley

Citi Token Services and 24/7 Digital Money

Citigroup, which connects to more than 220 payment and settlement networks globally, began with private permissioned blockchains before expanding to public networks as regulations became clearer and client demand grew. This phased approach mirrors what JPMorgan has done with its JPM Coin initiative.

One live use case is Citi Token Services for cash, a 24/7 blockchain-based network used to move money within Citi's global system. Surendran explained that as the industry moves toward around-the-clock assets like bitcoin, it also needs around-the-clock U.S. dollars or digital money. She added that Citi's internal systems are being adapted for round-the-clock support to match the always-on nature of crypto markets.

What Does This Mean for Institutional Crypto Adoption?

The moves by Citi and Morgan Stanley signal that bitcoin custody and crypto trading are shifting from niche offerings to core banking services. What began with BlackRock launching exchange-traded funds to broaden investor access has now spread to numerous banks and financial institutions integrating legacy services into the digital asset sector.

The New York Stock Exchange said last month it plans to introduce an around-the-clock, blockchain-based trading venue for tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds later this year. Meanwhile, Nasdaq revealed in December that it was planning to facilitate nearly round-the-clock trading for stocks and exchange-traded products, aiming to match the increasingly global nature of financial markets and rising investor demand. With two of the world's largest banks now building proprietary crypto infrastructure, the institutional digital asset landscape is entering a new phase of maturity in 2026.