TL;DR
The Wall Street bank confirmed that issuance, transfer of ownership, and final settlement were processed through blockchain infrastructure instead of traditional correspondent banking rails.
The transaction deepens the connection between established financial institutions and public blockchain networks. Trade finance, a market that moves trillions of dollars each year, has long faced delays tied to paper documentation and fragmented clearing systems. By shifting a live instrument to Solana, Citi tested whether distributed ledgers can streamline cross-border workflows and reduce operational friction.
The deal was executed using Citi’s internal platform, known as CIDAP, which supports digital issuance and post-trade servicing. According to the bank, the lifecycle of the bill of exchange moved end to end on Solana without reverting to offchain reconciliation.
Solana’s architecture, built for high throughput and low transaction costs, made it suitable for time-sensitive financial operations. While Citi did not disclose the notional size of the instrument, it confirmed that the transaction ran in a production environment rather than a closed simulation.
Citi operates across more than 160 jurisdictions and serves multinational corporations, financial institutions, and governments. Integrating blockchain into trade finance can reduce settlement cycles from days to near real time, while improving transparency and auditability for counterparties involved in global supply chains.
The initiative forms part of Citi’s broader digital asset roadmap. The bank previously explored tokenized deposits and blockchain-based payments, and it now plans to introduce regulated crypto custody services in 2026. Custody would allow institutional clients to hold digital assets within established compliance frameworks.
Across global markets, banks and asset managers are testing tokenized bonds, funds, and trade instruments. Public blockchains such as Solana compete with private ledger systems by offering open infrastructure and interoperability with decentralized finance applications.
Citi’s move indicates that major institutions increasingly view blockchain not merely as an experiment, but as operational infrastructure. As more regulated entities deploy tokenization at scale, onchain settlement is positioning itself as a viable component of global capital markets.
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