Citigroup is expanding its blockchain-based tokenized deposit service to Japan and the United Arab Emirates.
Citi has added Japan and the UAE to the markets served by Citi Token Services, financial industry sources said on the 28th. The move brings the service to seven markets in total, alongside the United States, Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
CTS allows clients to tokenize deposits held at the bank on a blockchain and transfer them in near real time. Unlike stablecoins such as Tether, the service is backed by bank deposits and runs on a permissioned blockchain operated by Citi.
While conventional cross-border transfers are constrained by banking hours and holidays, CTS moves funds around the clock within Citi's network. Companies can use it to shift money between overseas units in real time and improve the efficiency of cross-border payments as well as liquidity and collateral management. CTS currently processes transactions worth billions of dollars.
With the expansion, the service will support dollar transactions in Japan and both dollar and euro transactions in the UAE. Citi account holders in Japan and the UAE will be able to move funds 24 hours a day with client accounts in existing CTS markets, including the United States and the United Kingdom. Citi plans to continue adding markets and supported currencies. Attention in the market is turning to when the service will launch in South Korea.
"Since CTS was introduced, companies no longer need to pre-position funds to match banking hours in each country," Ambrish Bansal, global head of products for liquidity and digital assets at Citigroup, said in a July interview with The Seoul Economic Daily. "Being able to send the funds they need to where they are needed, when they are needed, is changing how global companies manage liquidity."
