Citigroup has gone live with Digital Depositary Receipts for private shares, completing an inaugural transaction between Kaleido and investors in its Wealth business.
The product makes Citi both issuer and custodian of tokenized depositary receipts on private companies, using SIX's regulated blockchain-based securities infrastructure for tokenization, settlement and safekeeping.
Citi is pitching the structure as a simpler route into private markets, where fragmented secondary trading can leave issuers and investors facing opaque structures, hidden costs and limited liquidity.
The bank said the receipts can distribute and transfer private shares without a public listing or changes to underlying ownership rights, and it is weighing expansion across traditional and digital market infrastructure.
Is tokenization unlocking private markets or just adding digital risk to old investment problems?
Will Citi's digital receipts create real liquidity or just a faster way to hold illiquid assets?
Are we building an open financial system or just new monopolies on the blockchain?
Citi’s Digital Depositary Receipts: Pioneering Tokenization in Private Markets as Asset Tokenization Set to Hit $24.5 Trillion by 2033
Overview
Citigroup has launched Digital Depositary Receipts (DDRs), a new private-share product that operates on SIX’s infrastructure and marks a major step in combining traditional finance with blockchain technology. Currently, DDRs are only available to wealthy and institutional clients, excluding retail investors and focusing on high-net-worth individuals and established financial entities. Citi plans to expand DDR access over time by connecting to more financial market infrastructures and eventually supporting public blockchain networks. This expansion could allow a broader range of investors and institutions to participate in DDRs in the future, building on Citi’s evolving digital asset strategy.