The financial institution joins different main monetary establishments embracing stablecoins and crypto providers as rules ease and market demand grows.
Citigroup Inc., the third-largest U.S. financial institution with $1.7 trillion in whole consolidated property, is weighing plans to launch its personal stablecoin, including itself to a rising record of different main banks increasing into crypto.
“We’re trying on the issuance of a Citi stablecoin,” Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser mentioned on an earnings name on Tuesday, July 15, Bloomberg reported. “We actually welcome the administration’s willingness to permit banks to take part within the digital asset house extra simply.”
The announcement got here as Citi shares hit their highest degree since 2008 after posting better-than-expected Q2 earnings and revealing plans to purchase again at the very least $4 billion of inventory within the third quarter.
With Congress advancing new stablecoin guidelines and regulators easing crypto restrictions, large banks like Citi are issuing their very own tokens to maintain up with digital cost developments. Citi already runs a non-public deposit token system and is now exploring exterior partnerships as nicely, per Bloomberg.
The information comes as stablecoins stay one of many quickest rising sectors in crypto. For almost two years, stablecoins have been rising and now make up near one-third of all decentralized finance (DeFi) income, with whole market capitalization surpassing $257 billion. Tether’s USDT leads the house with a $160 billion market cap, representing 62.5% of the sector, in accordance with DefiLlama.
It additionally comes after a current report by crypto financial institution Sygnum discovered that the U.S. is more and more counting on dollar-backed stablecoins to assist defend the greenback’s international dominance. The U.S. greenback has already dropped 10.7% towards main currencies by June 2025, its worst first-half efficiency since 1973. In flip, traders are more and more turning to various protected havens, equivalent to gold and, in some instances, cryptocurrencies.
Stablecoin Scene
Efforts to push key crypto laws — together with for stablecoins — by Congress confronted a setback on Tuesday throughout what some GOP lawmakers have dubbed “Crypto Week.”
Nonetheless, Home Majority Chief Steve Scalise advised Politico at the moment that he expects a vote on all three crypto payments earlier than the Home at the moment.
Earlier this 12 months, Visa unveiled plans to roll out platforms to assist banks create their very own dollar-pegged stablecoins, whereas Fiserv introduced plans to launch a USD stablecoin on Solana by year-end, as business demand grows. In Could, reviews surfaced {that a} group of corporations owned by main U.S. banks, together with Citi, are additionally contemplating launching a joint stablecoin. One of many banks, JPMorgan, additionally revealed final month that it’s testing its personal deposit token, JPMD, on Base.
