Citibank, with $2.57T in total assets, is working closely with Chainlink in DLT systems adoption / data orchestration.
$LINK
Here’s a summary of the most recent Citi GPS report:
“The Future of Post-Trade – Custody and Settlement in an Always-On World” (Sept 2025)
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Key Themes & Takeaways
•80% of industry focus is on: accelerated settlements, digital assets, automation, and settlement efficiency.
•Digital assets expected to significantly improve liquidity, collateral mobility, and reduce costs (~90% of survey respondents).
•Generative AI adoption in post-trade lags general enterprise use (24% vs 53%), but offers large untapped potential.
•Future transformation is less about one technology and more about platforms, interoperability, and business models.
•Geopolitical uncertainty (wars, sanctions, data localization laws) is reshaping custody strategies.
Rebuilding Infrastructure 🏗️
•40% of global securities turnover already on T 1 cycles; major infrastructure rebuild underway.
•Real-time corporate actions, tax functions, liquidity and FX integration are key building blocks.
•APIs, data-sharing platforms, and on-chain settlement models are enabling always-on operations.
•Transparency pressures are shrinking arbitrage margins, pushing custodians toward scale and consolidation.
Digital Assets – Reimagining Business Models
•Institutional adoption of digital assets is accelerating:
•Tokenized treasuries, on-chain funds, and stablecoins expected to dominate by 2030.
•Tokenization allows 24/7 collateral mobility and real-time settlement.
•Custodians are well positioned to lead due to trust, regulatory status, and infrastructure.
•Digital asset custody is evolving from exchange-held to segregated custodians due to risk/regulation (e.g., FTX collapse lesson).
•Integration of digital and traditional custody will take 8–10 years but is underway.
AI & Data 🤖
•Current AI use is mostly operational cost reduction; future value lies in innovation:
•Predictive settlement failure analysis (could save $100s of billions).
•Intelligent credit extension.
•“Client DNA” dashboards.
•Real-time regulatory mapping and adaptive reporting.
•AI can unlock cross-asset and cross-market intelligence from custodians’ vast data sets.
•Lagging adoption risks “automation debt” for incumbents as fintech custodians build AI-native platforms.
Platforms & Partnerships
•Profitability pressures → shift from transactional models to platform orchestration.
•Partnerships between traditional banks (trust, scale) and crypto firms (tech expertise) are growing.
•Future custody networks likely to involve multiple interconnected ledgers, requiring legal and regulatory harmonization.
•Platformification is key to interoperability, governance, and resilience.