VanEck executive: Citigroup originally planned to launch institutional Bitcoin custody services last week, but it may have been delayed due to the Binance hacking incident

Matthew Sigel, the Head of Digital Asset Research at VanEck, stated that Citigroup Wealth released a report titled "Expanding the Investable Universe: A Guide to Crypto ETFs," recommending spot BTC and ETH ETFs to suitable clients as a way to allocate digital assets through regulated brokerage accounts beyond stocks and bonds. Additionally, on August 18, Citigroup announced that its new Custody+ platform will begin holding Bitcoin for institutional clients this year.

Sigel noted that this will make Citigroup the 6th bank among the 29 global systemically important banks to have launched or announced institutional Bitcoin custody, following BNY, Standard Chartered, Société Générale, State Street, and Deutsche Bank. BNY, Standard Chartered, and SG-Forge have been licensed and are serving institutions, while Deutsche Bank stated it will launch within weeks, and JPMorgan has indicated it will not provide custody at this time. Sigel mentioned that last week's Binance hacking incident may be one reason for Citigroup not announcing the timeline, as he heard the service was originally set to launch last week.