Bloomberg: Citigroup expands institutional digital asset payment services, the stablecoin market may exceed $1 trillion.

Citigroup Inc. ( and a leading US listed CEX are collaborating to provide a broader range of digital asset payment capabilities for the bank's corporate clients. This partnership will initially focus on exploring how to make it easier for Citigroup's institutional clients (including cross-border clients) to convert Crypto Assets into fiat currency.

Citibank is still exploring solutions to provide clients with on-chain stablecoin payments, and stablecoins are gradually becoming important use cases for digital assets in the real world.

Citi partners with leading US CEX to eliminate barriers for digital asset entry and exit from traditional finance.

According to Bloomberg, Citigroup Inc. has announced a strategic partnership with a major U.S. crypto asset exchange aimed at providing its corporate clients with a broader range of digital asset payment capabilities. Despite regulators warning about the risks of crypto assets for years, this partnership marks a significant move by large financial institutions on Wall Street to actively seek innovations in blockchain technology. In the initial phase of the collaboration, both parties will focus on simplifying the bidirectional conversion process between Citi's institutional clients' crypto assets and fiat currencies, especially for cross-border payments. This is a milestone for promoting the development of institutional digital asset payments and banking crypto business.

Wall Street Giants Join Forces with Crypto Leaders: Citi Partners with CEX for New Milestone

The collaboration between Citigroup and CEX is the latest example of Wall Street and centralized finance (CeFi) embracing decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure. The initial focus of this collaboration is to explore how to make it easier for Citi's institutional clients to transfer funds from Crypto Assets to fiat currency and vice versa, thereby significantly enhancing the efficiency of cross-border fund transfers.

) Solve payment pain points: 7x24 hours instant clearing and improvement of cross-border payment efficiency

For retail and institutional crypto users, transferring funds into or out of crypto applications and accounts has always been a historical pain point. Although crypto transactions can be conducted 24/7, transferring funds between institutions via traditional payment rails such as ACH (Automated Clearing House) or wire transfers may involve hours, days, or even weeks of delays.

Debopama Sen, head of payment services at Citibank, stated that in addition to fast, 24/7 payment capabilities, Citi's clients are also seeking programmability, conditional payments, and other improvements in cost, speed, and efficiency. These advanced features offered by blockchain are precisely what the traditional financial system lacks.

Stablecoin Ecosystem Explosion: Citigroup Predicts Market Size to Exceed $1 Trillion in Five Years

Stablecoins, as digital assets pegged to fiat currencies, have become one of the most important real-world applications of digital assets. Debopama Sen revealed that Citibank will “explore solutions to truly enable on-chain stablecoin payments for clients” in the coming months.

Sen emphasized: “Stablecoins will become another key driver in the digital payment ecosystem, which will contribute to the growth of the industry space and add functionality for our clients.”

Ronit Ghose and other commentators from Citi's internal think tank “Future of Finance” predict that the stablecoin market will exceed $1 trillion in the next five years. Currently, the market size is around $300 billion. This forecast highlights the enormous potential of institutional stablecoin applications and digital asset payments.

The importance of CEX infrastructure

CEX Global Crypto-as-a-Service Director Brian Foster stated that the exchange has partnered with over 250 banks and financial institutions worldwide. He told Bloomberg News, “This CEX has spent years developing highly specialized infrastructure.”

Foster added that banks, brokers, and financial technology (Fintech) companies are seeking partnerships that involve a range of services such as spot and derivatives trading, custody, staking, and payments. The growth of stablecoins in the payment sector, the popularity of crypto ETFs, and the broader trend of tokenized assets have greatly enhanced the interest of large financial institutions in the crypto industry.

Institutional Interest in Digital Assets Soars: From Tokenized Deposits to On-chain Payments

Citi's collaboration with CEX is another significant move following Citi's launch of its blockchain platform. This platform allows customers to use Tokenized Deposits for around-the-clock fund transfers within the banking network.

This evolution from tokenized deposits to on-chain stablecoin payments indicates that traditional banking giants are viewing blockchain technology as a key tool to enhance operational efficiency and meet institutional clients' demand for 24/7 financial services. This is not only a tolerance for the risks of digital assets but also an acknowledgment of their technological advantages.

Conclusion: Strong Alliances Accelerate the Mainstreaming of Crypto Finance

The strategic cooperation between Citigroup and CEX is another important milestone in the integration of traditional finance and the encryption world. It directly targets the inefficiencies between digital assets and traditional payment systems, and indicates that 24/7 programmable on-chain payments will become the new normal for institutional services. As more Wall Street giants join this race for blockchain payment innovation, the widespread adoption of stablecoins and tokenized assets will be accelerated, ultimately driving Crypto Assets towards full mainstream acceptance.

Do you think the collaboration between Citi and CEX can force traditional payment networks (such as SWIFT) to accelerate their modernization and real-time settlement processes?