Wall Street's Bitcoin Move Meets Washington's Crypto Reckoning
Citi Joins the Institutional Bitcoin Custody Race
Citigroup announced on Tuesday that it will launch native Bitcoin custody for institutional clients later this year, folding the service into a new platform called Custody+. The offering will let clients hold Bitcoin alongside traditional securities within the same custody framework, rather than relying on a separate crypto-specific custodian.
Amit Agarwal, Citi's Head of Custody, described the move as the product of a multi-year infrastructure buildout designed to match the pace of institutional trading strategies. The bank first signaled its intent to enter crypto custody back in October, and Tuesday's announcement gives that plan a firmer shape and timeline, even though an exact launch date has not been disclosed.
Citi is entering a custody market that is already competitive. BNY Mellon, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Coinbase have each built out institutional-grade digital asset custody in recent years, particularly since the SEC's 2025 withdrawal of the SAB 121 accounting guidance that had discouraged banks from holding crypto on clients' behalf. Citi says more than 80% of its asset-servicing volume is now processed in real time, and it invests over $2 billion annually in its broader platform strategy — context that frames Bitcoin custody as one piece of a larger push toward continuous, 24/7 market infrastructure rather than a standalone crypto product.
The White House Brings Crypto's Biggest Names to the Table
The same week, the Trump administration is hosting a closely watched meeting with crypto and prediction-market executives. Reports point to attendance from Coinbase, Ripple, Gemini, Robinhood, Kalshi, and Polymarket, alongside senior officials including SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. President Trump's own participation has been widely reported but not formally confirmed by the White House.
The timing is not incidental. The meeting lands a day before the CFTC's first Innovation Advisory Committee session, where crypto and prediction-market oversight are expected to be central topics. It also arrives as the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act — the bill meant to divide federal crypto oversight between the SEC and CFTC — sits stalled in the Senate. Galaxy Research recently cut its odds of the bill becoming law in 2026 to roughly 10%, down sharply from earlier in the year, citing unresolved disputes over ethics rules for government officials' crypto holdings and limited Senate floor time ahead of the midterm recess.
With legislation losing momentum, attention is shifting toward what regulators can accomplish on their own. Analysts expect the SEC to move forward with rulemaking, such as its "Regulation Crypto" proposal, even without a new law in place — a path that offers faster relief but less permanence than an act of Congress.
What It Means for the Market
Taken together, these two stories outline the current shape of US crypto policy and adoption. Institutions like Citi are moving ahead regardless of legislative gridlock, building the custody and settlement infrastructure needed to treat Bitcoin as just another asset class on the balance sheet. Meanwhile, Washington is trying to signal engagement with the industry even as its central legislative vehicle loses steam, leaning instead on agency-level rulemaking to fill the gap.
For traders and long-term holders, the practical takeaway is that regulatory clarity is likely to arrive piecemeal — through SEC and CFTC exemptions and guidance — rather than through a single comprehensive law this year. For institutions, the direction of travel is clearer: major banks are no longer asking whether to offer Bitcoin custody, but how quickly they can bring it to market.
