Citi launches blockchain marketplace for private company shares

Citigroup is launching a blockchain-based marketplace to give wealthy and institutional investors a way to gain exposure to pre-IPO firms. The platform will use tokenized depositary receipts issued by Citi, which represent ownership interests in private companies, and will be available first to foreign investors with US access planned later.

"Right next to their Apple stock," Citi digital asset executive Artem Korenyuk told the Journal. Major banks are increasingly adopting tokenization to modernize traditional markets. Citi says structuring private investments through tokenized depositary receipts offers a more transparent alternative to special-purpose vehicles, which have become a common but often opaque route into private companies.

United States

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