Citi Digital Depositary Receipts: new tokenized access to private company shares

Responsible: ad hoc news Lifestyle & Consumer Desk. Reviewed prior to publication on June 12, 2026 at 5:36 PM ET. Details in the imprint.

Citigroup Inc. is rolling out its new Digital Depositary Receipts, a tokenized version of its long-standing depositary receipt business that aims to open up private company shares to a broader base of institutional investors while simplifying capital raising for issuers. According to Citi, these Digital Depositary Receipts represent private company equity on a regulated blockchain infrastructure operated by SIX Digital Exchange, with Citi acting as both issuer and custodian for the tokenized receipts. The offering is designed as an institutional product, giving global issuers a way to raise capital in private markets and investors a more direct and transparent route into private company equity than many current structures allow.

How Citi Digital Depositary Receipts work and what is new

Digital Depositary Receipts apply Citi's existing depositary receipt model to shares of private companies but shift the technical backbone to a regulated blockchain infrastructure run by SIX, a Swiss market operator that launched one of the first fully regulated digital central securities depositories. In practice, private company shares are held in custody and represented by digital tokens, with Citi serving as the single trusted issuer and custodian of those tokenized depositary receipts, rather than relying on multiple intermediaries. Citi positions the structure as offering a more direct link between investors and the underlying equity, compared with traditional private market vehicles that often involve layered funds or special-purpose entities, and highlights the potential for lower operational complexity and costs.

For issuers, the product is marketed as a flexible capital-raising tool in the private markets, allowing global companies to issue equity-like instruments that can be held by institutional investors without going through a full public listing. Citi states that Digital Depositary Receipts are intended to support cross-border capital flows, using familiar depositary receipt documentation and governance while leveraging digital infrastructure for issuance and post-trade activities. For investors, especially institutions that are already active in private markets, the model aims to provide a single point of access through Citi, using standardized processes for onboarding, settlement, and safekeeping that align with existing institutional workflows.

Citi describes the blockchain layer as permissioned and regulated, emphasizing that the infrastructure is being used to support traditional market rules rather than to bypass them. SIX's digital central securities depository framework is designed to integrate with standard financial market regulation, which is important for institutional investors that must operate within strict compliance, risk, and custody standards. By situating the product on this type of infrastructure, Citi is targeting clients that want exposure to tokenized assets but are not willing or able to trade on unregulated or retail-focused crypto platforms.

The bank also frames Digital Depositary Receipts as part of a broader strategy around tokenization and digital assets, which has been communicated in earlier digital asset initiatives from Citi's institutional businesses. The launch underscores the view that tokenization can be used primarily as a market plumbing upgrade, with potential benefits for settlement efficiency, transparency, and asset servicing, rather than as a speculative crypto product.

For private companies, one practical appeal is the potential to diversify their investor base beyond a narrow group of venture capital or private equity funds, while still remaining private. Digital Depositary Receipts can be structured to reflect economic rights similar to equity, including potential dividends or distributions, but within a controlled investor universe and under issuer-defined terms. The fact that Citi itself acts as the single issuer and custodian may be attractive to issuers and investors that want an established global bank managing documentation, investor records, and corporate actions.

Citi has not publicly disclosed detailed pricing for Digital Depositary Receipts but positions the product as offering a cost-efficient alternative to traditional private market structures, in part by reducing intermediaries and streamlining settlement and asset servicing via digital infrastructure. Because the solution is aimed at institutional clients, it is not marketed as a mass-market retail investment and there is no indication that individual U.S. consumers will be able to buy these receipts directly through typical retail brokerage accounts at launch. Instead, the focus is on asset managers, family offices, and other professional investors that are already operating in private markets and looking for more standardized, scalable ways to allocate capital.

From a portfolio perspective, Digital Depositary Receipts sit within Citi's broader Issuer Services and Securities Services units, which provide depositary receipt programs, custody, and fund services to corporate and institutional clients globally. These businesses are part of Citi's Services segment, which the bank has identified in its public filings as a strategic growth engine alongside its Treasury and Trade Solutions franchise. For observers tracking Citigroup Inc. as a listed company, the launch highlights the bank's continued push into digital market infrastructure and tokenization as it looks to deepen relationships with issuers and institutional investors in private and public markets. Shares of Citigroup Inc. (US1729674242, ticker C) traded at around $60 on the New York Stock Exchange in early June 2026 based on recent market data.

This article was created with a.i. assistance and editorially reviewed. Product information is provided without warranty; prices and availability may change at any time. Not investment advice, not a buy or sell recommendation. Trading in securities carries risks up to the total loss of capital.