Tag: Citigroup

Nexo Hires Citigroup to Advise on Potential Acquisitions

by Blockchain News

Nexo, a crypto lending platform based in Switzerland, announced on Wednesday that it has tapped Citigroup to advise it on the potential acquisition of other crypto firms hit by the recent market downturn.

Antoni Trenchev, co-founder and Managing Partner of Nexo, said: “We have been approached by multiple Wall Street banks and decided to officially explore the opportunities for acquisition to help stabilize our nascent industry.”

Nexo said it hired the banking giant to explore strategic options, including a potential M&A deal within the crypto lending space.

The collaboration came as a result of a bid that saw the banker selected to serve as a financial advisor.

The partnership will enable the two firms to explore the best ways to protect retail investors in the current crypto market turbulence that exposed the cracks in the space, with several businesses staggering towards insolvency.

The lack of liquidity is on a clear display. Nexo feels having a “lender of last resort” – similar to that played by the Federal Reserve – would help crypto lenders and others in the blockchain industry.

Such “lender of last resort” would give room for solvent players to work towards mass consolidation via mergers and acquisitions (М&А), Nexo stated.

Investors Worried About Crypto Winter

The current crypto market conditions have caused lots of anxiety investors to rush for the exits while many firms feel the heat. On 13th June, prominent crypto lending firm Celsius Network froze all account withdrawals, transfers, and swap products citing “extreme market conditions.

A liquidity crisis at Celsius made investors worried about a wider contagion that could bring down other major participants in the market. Celsius was already feeling the pain after the collapse of the $60 billion stablecoin venture Terra. Celsius was an investor in Terra.

Two days later, Nexo announced plans to buyout Celsius, including assets “mostly or fully of collateralized loan receivables secured by corresponding collateral assets.”

Last week, the future of crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital appeared hanging in the balance as the firm faced potential insolvency after being liquidated by its lenders. The current difficult crypto market fueled the hedge fund’s plunge. The demise of Terraform Labs’ Luna token the previous month also resulted in huge losses for Three Arrows Capital, which is a huge backer of the Seoul-based crypto company.

Many other crypto firms such as Coinbase, BlockFi and Crypto.com, recently froze hiring and announced job cuts as they reckon with a dramatic downturn in the market and heightened concerns about a weakening economy.

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Following Insolvency Fears, Celsius Network Taps Citigroup To Guide Financial Options

by Blockchain News

Troubled Celsius Network has hired US banking giant Citigroup to advise it on possible solutions aimed to bail out its business, three days after the major crypto lending firm appeared to witness bankruptcy concerns.

Fresh reports show that Celsius has appointed Citigroup in an advisory capacity – Citi is not expected to offer financial kickback for the crypto lender to boost its balance sheet.

People familiar with sources disclosed that Citi is offering advice to Celsius on possible financing options.

This is not the first time when the two firms have come together. Citi and Celsius have had a close relationship in terms of business collaborations.

Recently, Citi advised Celsius on its IPO (initial public offering) and mining subsidiary plans. Last month, Celsius announced that its mining subsidiary business, Celsius Mining, confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its proposed launch.

The latest reports also indicate that Celsius has hired lawyers specializing in business restructuring to assist it in navigating its difficult financial situation. Celsius has hired restructuring attorneys from the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP to advise on possible solutions for its rising financial woes.  

People with close knowledge have revealed that Celsius is first looking for possible financing options to repay its customers, but is also exploring other strategic alternatives, including a financial restructuring.

Worsening Market Conditions

The latest developments have continued to evolve after Celsius on Monday appeared to face bankruptcy concerns. On Sunday, the crypto lender froze all swaps, transfers, and withdrawals between accounts due to extreme market conditions.

Celsius is not the only one impacted by very difficult markets in recent weeks. Several crypto companies, especially exchanges, have announced massive job cuts and hiring freezes amid challenging times for crypto and equity markets.

The current crypto market meltdown has coincided with a collapse in public stock markets, with interest rate hikes designed to clamp down inflation that have scared away investors in many high-flying technology and growth equities. Crypto firms that have relied on retail traders during a time of excess liquidity in the system have witnessed a huge meltdown in trading.

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Two Co-head of Citigroup’s Digital Assets Quit, Planing to Launch New Crypto Startup

by Blockchain News

Two co-heads of Citigroup’s digital assets, Greg Girasole and Alex Kriete announced on Friday via their LinkedIn platform that they are leaving Citigroup to launch a new venture and would reveal more details soon.

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Two top executives left the global investment bank less than a year after being appointed to be in charge of the new crypto-centred unit, which was introduced in June 2021 within Citi’s wealth management unit.

On his social media post, Kriete mentioned that he plans to commit himself full-time to build a new crypto firm but did not elaborate further details. Girasole also disclosed his departure via social media LinkedIn, saying that he and Kriete intend to establish their own blockchain-related venture. The two executives stated that they would reveal more details about the new business venture in the coming weeks.

Prior to being tapped to serve as co-head of the digital assets group, Girasole was a senior vice president and president portfolio manager for Citi in Manhattan and Stanford and also held several investment positions.

Also, before Kriete was named co-head of digital assets at Citi, he held senior vice president and vice president roles in investments at the bank.

Girasole talked about his departure and said: “After 7 years, I am leaving Citi in order to start my own venture in the digital asset space. It was at Citi where my passion for digital assets began, culminating in the opportunity to lead the effort to bring this new asset class to their Global Wealth franchise. I am proud of the foundation we set and will cheer their future success.”

Meanwhile, Kriete also commented about the development and stated: “After 11 years at Citi, I have decided to take on a new challenge and will be leaving the firm. Over five years ago, my personal interest and subsequent writing about blockchain-enabled digital assets (yes, “crypto”) led to an amazing network of colleagues across Citi businesses, external companies, and interested clients, and at this time I will be taking on a new challenge professionally by creating a new company in this space.”

The Crypto Economy Continues Attracting Top Wall Street Talents

Girasole and Kriete are not the only Citigroup executives that have departed the hallowed halls of traditional finance to embrace the rough and tumble world of cryptocurrency.

In March last year, Morgan McKenney, the Chief Operating Officer of Citigroup’s global consumer banking arm and an 18-year veteran of the financial giant, assumed the role of CEO for a firm known as Provenance Blockchain Foundation.

Before starting the CEO position at the blockchain firm, McKenney took a sabbatical from Citi and realized that digital assets are the future of finance. McKenney talked with more than 80 fintech entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and innovation people, and it became clear for her that digital is disrupting financial services in foundational ways.

Financial services have always been performed through trusted intermediaries, whether telling a broker to sell stocks or instructing the bank to send money. But blockchain is changing the underlying banking infrastructure layer to allow two parties that do not know each other to agree bilaterally and settle such assets in real-time.

In November last year, another former Citi trading executive launched a $1.5 billion fund focused on investing in cryptocurrency infrastructure, blockchain protocols, and virtual worlds. Matt Zhang, an ex-Citi head of structured products trading, launched Hivemind Capital Partners, a $1.5 billion multi-strategy fund to invest in cryptocurrency and blockchain startups. The move by Zhang, a Wall Street veteran with over 14 years of experience, to establish a new crypto venture fund offered further evidence that smart money investors are pivoting to the emerging world of digital assets.

 

 

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Banking Giant Citigroup To Hire 100 Employees for New Crypto Division: Report

by Dailyhodl

Citigroup is planning to enter the crypto space in a major way by adding a hundred employees to a new division that focuses on digital assets.

According to a new Financial News report, the financial services giant is appointing blockchain veteran and current Citigroup manager Puneet Singhvi to lead the division whose primary focus will be serving institutional clients.

The report claims to have seen an internal memo, which elaborates on the new unit’s role.

“[It will] outline a distinct strategy on where and how ICG [International Clients Group] should pursue digital asset opportunities including new products, new clients, and new investments.”

Citigroup’s head of business development Emily Turner is also quoted from the internal document.

“We believe in the potential of blockchain and digital assets including the benefits of efficiency, instant processing, fractionalization, programmability and transparency.

Puneet and team will focus on engaging with key internal and external stakeholders including clients, startups and regulators.”

The memo goes on to say that the crypto division would fill approximately 100 new job roles.

The news comes on the heels of Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser saying last month that she sees a place for cryptos within the traditional financial system and that the company would look to incorporate digital asset services with “appropriate caution.”

“It’s clear that digital assets will be part of the financial services and financial markets, the future of them. We already see clients very active in the space.

We’re building the infrastructure for retail real-time payments. But we’re doing so cautiously, because the space is moving so quickly and not all the guard rails that you would like to see are yet in place.”

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any loses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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Former Citigroup CEO Says Every Large Bank Will Consider Trading Crypto Assets: Report

by Dailyhodl

A former chief executive officer at investment giant Citigroup is predicting that all major financial institutions will consider trading crypto assets.

Vikram Pandit, who led Citigroup from 2007-2012, says in a Bloomberg interview that in the coming years, he sees large financial players exploring the idea of offering services related to crypto assets.

“[In] one to three years, every large bank and, or securities firm is going to actively think about ‘Shouldn’t I also be trading and selling cryptocurrency assets?’”

Pandit adds that he’s also hopeful central banks will adopt digital currencies, citing the “cumbersome” nature of paper-based banking systems.

“My big hope is that central banks around the world understand the benefit of a central bank digital currency, and move on to accept, adopt them.”

Pandit now serves as CEO and chairman of The Orogen Group, a financial services firm he co-founded. He says he’s invested in US-based crypto exchange Coinbase and blockchain developer platform, Alchemy Insights.

Citigroup’s current CEO, Jane Fraser, has also spoken in support of crypto, noting there is a place for digital assets in the traditional financial system.

Fraser said that she is currently working on building the infrastructure necessary for enabling real-time payments.

“For me as a CEO, I’m working to connect our clients to wallets. We’re enabling our businesses and our corporate clients to accept consumer payments. We’re building the infrastructure for retail real-time payments.

But we’re doing so cautiously, because the space is moving so quickly and not all the guard rails that you would like to see are yet in place.”

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any loses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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Banks Will Start Mulling the Possibility of Crypto Trading in 3 Years: Former Citi CEO

by Blockchain News

Most financial institutions are likely to integrate digital currency trading services within the next one to three years. This position is held strongly by Vikram Pandit, the former Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup Inc and current Chairman of Orogen Group.

Speaking at the Singapore Fintech Festival event, Pandit told Bloomberg that the ‘shift’ in banking orientation and support for cryptocurrencies is billed to take effect within the next three years.

In “one to three years, every large bank and, or securities firm is going to actively think about ‘shouldn’t I also be trading and selling cryptocurrency assets?’ ” Pandit said

The adoption of digital currencies is a major trend that almost all banking institutions are considering tagging along with. While American banks have been allowed the leverage to keep custody of stablecoins, several institutions are tilting towards meeting customer demands, most centred around Bitcoin ETFs and related products.

Pandit also talked about the advent of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), highlighting the need for Central Banks need to adopt either cryptocurrency or develop their digital fiat money in a bid to tag along with the switch into Web3.0.

“My big hope is that central banks around the world understand the benefit of a central bank digital currency, and move on to accept, adopt them…a central bank digital currency, which is available to you and me, and every other retail participant around the world,”

Pandit told Bloomberg that cross-border transactions and the attempt to modernize a paper-based, i.e., the traditional fiat banking system is “cumbersome” and creates a considerable amount of “deadweight” cost.

Central Banks are not sleeping on their oars, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) affirming that about 110 countries are actively developing their own CBDCs. Thus far, The Central Bank of the Bahamas and the Central Bank of Nigeria remain the prominent banks that have floated a fully functional CBDC product.

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Citigroup CEO Says Digital Assets Will Be Part of the Future Financial System

by Dailyhodl

Citigroup’s CEO Jane Fraser says there is a place for cryptocurrencies in the traditional financial system.

In a Yahoo Finance interview, Fraser says that digital assets provide benefits in the area of real-time payments.

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“It’s clear that digital assets will be part of the financial services and financial markets, the future of them. We already see clients very active in the space.

Real-time payments, both in the sense of they’re [being] frictionless, they’ll become more global, they’ll become ubiquitous. Real-time payments will be here in the near term, and digital currencies may be part of that future.

We see benefits from the digital asset space – instant processing, fractionalization, programmability and transparency.”

Fraser says that she is currently working on building the infrastructure necessary for enabling real-time payments.

“For me as a CEO, I’m working to connect our clients to wallets. We’re enabling our businesses and our corporate clients to accept consumer payments. We’re building the infrastructure for retail real-time payments.

But we’re doing so cautiously, because the space is moving so quickly and not all the guard rails that you would like to see are yet in place.”

The Citigroup CEO says that the multinational financial services giant is approaching crypto assets with “appropriate caution” to protect clients.

“I would say we’re proceeding thoughtfully and with appropriate caution here. Why is that? There’s still a lot of questions about how the space evolves. Around regulatory clarity, around some of the scalability, around resiliency, certainly around some transparency, and making sure that there are the appropriate guard rails in the system, particularly for our retail clients.

We don’t want them participating in areas that they’re not necessarily as well-equipped to understand the risks.”

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any loses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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Wall Street Giant Citigroup Could Soon Trade CME Bitcoin Futures

by Btcmanager

According to the bank’s spokesman on Tuesday, Wall Street giant Citigroup (NYSE: C) is eager as they await regulatory approval to start offering bitcoin (BTC, -3.59%) futures trading contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). 

Institutional Clients

Another individual familiar with cryptocurrency derivatives markets noted that Citi is gathering a team to join a crypto-focused team in London. The individual also noted that the team would possibly win approval to commence trading CME bitcoin futures first and later bitcoin exchange-traded notes (ETNs).

Later they will move on to other products such as bitcoin exchange-traded notes.

A Citigroup spokesperson said that they are very thoughtful about their approach with the many questions around regulatory frameworks, supervisory expectations, and other factors. 

At the moment, they are considering products like futures for some institutional clients, as these operate under solid regulatory frameworks.

Optimistic Market

The bank has observed an increased demand in the cryptocurrency space as bitcoin mounts a climb toward $50,000 again. Arcane Research wrote in a Tuesday newsletter that the fear is gone for now, and the market is optimistic.

On Monday, Bitcoin prices surged over $50,000 after weathering a crackdown by Chinese authorities on domestic cryptocurrency mining companies at the beginning of the year. Mainstream adoption by corporations and the wider public have been gathering pace.

If Citi gets the regulatory approval, they will join fellow megabank Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, which launched their internal initiatives to assist their premium management clients in accessing the crypto market.

JPMorgan was the first major U.S. bank to give all its wealth-management clients the green light to access cryptocurrency funds. 

Impressive Developments

Citigroup, one of the most significant banks in the U.S., holds some $23.7 trillion in assets under custody. The bank reported total revenues of $17.5 billion when it released its second-quarter 2021 results just recently. 

According to a Financial Times report nL4N2MU1B8, the bank was weighing the option of providing cryptocurrency-related services in May.

Citigroup also launched a business unit in June that focuses on the cryptocurrency and blockchain space.

The bank has seen exciting new developments around crypto, tokenization, and other advances powered by blockchain technology, thus forming the Digital Assets Group.

Citi’s U.K. brokerage platform began offering clients access to ETH (-5.14%) ETNs in the previous crypto bull run in 2017. However, the demand for the products declined, and the bank set offerings aside after bitcoin’s price dropped in 2018.

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Citigroup Sets to Begin Trading Bitcoin Futures for Institutional Clients

by Blockchain News

Citigroup, the third-largest banking giant in the US, is planning to offer Bitcoin futures trading for some institutional clients. A source within the bank revealed the matter but requested to remain anonymous.

The person familiar with the situation disclosed that Citi is awaiting regulatory approvals to start trading Bitcoin futures on CME (the Chicago Mercantile Exchange).

The source said that Citi moved to fill the surging client demand for cryptocurrency exposures as Bitcoin climbs towards $50,000 per coin. The Citi spokeswoman said:

“We are presently considering products such as futures for some of our institutional clients, as these operate under strong regulatory frameworks,” 

“Given the many questions around regulatory frameworks, supervisory expectations, and other factors, we are very thoughtful about our approach,” she further added.

The spokeswoman mentioned that Citi’s trading operation could start with Bitcoin futures before moving to other products such as Bitcoin exchange-traded notes. 

“The bank is likely to win approval to begin trading CME bitcoin futures first and then Bitcoin exchange-traded notes (ETNs),” she said.

Banks Embracing Bitcoin Craze

Citigroup, which is still waiting for the necessary regulatory approvals, would join a fellow major bank Goldman Sach in providing Bitcoin futures trading.

One of the world’s largest currency trading banks, Citi, first showed interest in Bitcoin in May 2021 when the bank announced that it was considering launching cryptocurrency trading, custody and financing services for its client base. The bank’s interest in digital currency services was triggered by the ‘very rapid’ accumulation of interests in Bitcoin within a wide variety of its large clients.

In late June, Citi launched a “digital asset group” to provide its clients access to cryptocurrencies, which operate within the bank’s wealth management division.

More banking institutions are embracing Bitcoin. In June, Goldman Sachs started trading Bitcoin futures with Galaxy Digital, the crypto merchant bank run by former hedge fund manager Mike Novogratz.

The move by Goldman, the major global bank, made a positive impact on Wall Street and beyond as banks increasingly face pressure from clients who want exposure to Bitcoin. By being the first major US bank to start trading cryptocurrency, Goldman gave other banks the cover to start doing so as well.  

Last month, Bank of America, the second-largest bank in the US, approved Bitcoin futures trading for some clients.   

Although banks have been conservative in their approach to the cryptocurrency sector, that has changed, and now they are allowing some of their clients to access the crypto market.

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Citigroup the Latest Wall Street Giant to Launch Digital Assets, Blockchain-Focused Business Unit

by Btcmanager

Citigroup is poised to enter the volatile crypto waters.

Citigroup Launches Crypto Dedicated Business Unit

According to a memo obtained by The Block, Wall Street behemoth Citigroup has officially launched a new business offshoot focused on the cryptocurrency and blockchain space.

The banking giant announced today the launch of Digital Assets Group, a new group that will be a part of Citigroup’s wealth management division called Citi Global Wealth Investments, the memo says.

The memo reads in part:

“Given the exciting new developments we are seeing around cryptocurrencies, tokenization, and other advances powered by blockchain technology, we are pleased to announce the formation of the Digital Assets Group.”

The memo adds the newly unveiled digital assets unit will be led by Alex Kriete and Greg Girasole. With this development, Citi has become the latest major financial institution to join the crypto bandwagon.

Wall Street Steadily Warming Up to Crypto

With Citigroup’s entry into the crypto landscape, the industry continues to get increasingly congested with large financial institutions keen on offering digital assets services to their clients.

As previously reported by BTCManager, filings with the SEC indicated that U.S.-based multinational investment corporation BlackRock held a considerable amount of bitcoin (BTC) futures during early 2021.

Similarly, in March this year, Morgan Stanley announced in a report that digital currencies are getting mighty closer to establishing themselves as an investible asset class.

The report read in part:

“For speculative investment opportunities to rise to the level of an investable asset class that can play a role in diversified investment portfolios requires transformational progress on both the supply and demand sides.”

On a similar note, BTCManager reported in April that New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. revealed it would soon offer an actively managed bitcoin fund to private wealth clients. This U-turn by the banking giant came four years after its CEO dubbed bitcoin “a dangerous fraud.”

On a recent note, BTCManager reported on June 19 that Goldman Sachs had joined forces with Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital to offer bitcoin investments services to its accredited clients.

At press time, bitcoin is exchanging hands at $34,468, according to data from CoinGecko.

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