Citi Debuts Digital Depositary Receipts for Private Market Access

Citi announced on June 11 the launch of Digital Depositary Receipts (DDRs) on private shares, a novel model designed to broaden access to private markets for global issuers and investors. The initiative marks the first time a global financial services firm is simultaneously issuing and acting as custodian for tokenised depositary receipts representing private companies.

The move addresses a growing need in capital markets, where lengthening timelines for initial public offerings have pushed private companies to seek alternative liquidity routes. Citi’s solution aims to provide an efficient, cost-effective, and digitally native alternative to fragmented secondary markets, which often feature complex structures, multiple intermediaries, and opaque fees.

Building on its established Depositary Receipts and Custody businesses, Citi's model uses tokenised depositary receipts to offer a flexible, institutional-grade product. While third-party Special Purpose Vehicles serve a market function, Citi’s approach can reduce complexity and potential hidden costs by having the bank act as a single issuer and custodian.

The DDRs apply Citi Issuer Services’ depositary receipt product to private market shares, tokenising them using blockchain infrastructure operated by SIX, one of the world’s first fully regulated digital central securities depositories. In its collaboration with SIX, Citi also serves as a custodian on the platform, handling the settlement and safekeeping of the tokenised receipts.

The solution went live with an inaugural transaction between institutional tokenisation platform Kaleido, a Citi portfolio company, and investors within Citi’s Wealth business. The launch was supported by Citi’s Secondary Private Markets business and represented a coordinated effort across its Issuer Services, Custody, Wealth, Markets, and Ventures teams.

“As private markets continue to grow, so has the need for diverse and trusted access points,” said Biswarup Chatterjee, head of partnerships and innovation for Citi’s Services business. “Our Digital Depositary Receipts product is designed to provide superior client service, safeguard assets and facilitate capital markets activity with the same rigour that underpins traditional financial markets. The interoperability of the product will further enable Citi to support a wider range of issuers and investors as digital asset market infrastructure continues to evolve.”

For issuers, the innovation is designed to ensure efficient distribution and transfer without a public listing or altering underlying ownership rights. Companies can maintain control over voting and a more simplified cap table structure while broadening their investor outreach. For Wealth clients, the product expands access to new offerings through a familiar investment structure, integrating tokenised receipts into existing platforms to enhance optionality while maintaining operational safeguards.

“As digital assets reshape how financial markets evolve, our priority is ensuring Citi Wealth clients can engage with these developments in a secure and familiar way,” said Deborah Querub, head of Digital Assets for Wealth. “We’re focused on responsibly expanding access to new types of investment opportunities while preserving the structures, protections, and experience our clients expect. This transaction is an incremental step in our process of leveraging digital capabilities to enhance options for our Wealth clients.”

Steve Cerveny, founder and CEO of Kaleido, commented on the first issuance: “Private companies like ours are scaling faster than the surrounding structures. This model finally brings a level of professionalism and transparency to private market capital formation that we’ve never had access to. Citi’s Digital Depositary Receipts allow us to explore new paths for growth while keeping the agility that makes private companies competitive, and that’s an advantage for founders planning long-term.”

Citi is also considering future extensions of the offering to operate across both digital and traditional financial market infrastructures and multiple blockchain networks.