Citi Adds Japan and UAE to Blockchain Liquidity Network

Citi has added Japan and the UAE to the markets covered by Citi Token Services, the bank's blockchain-based liquidity product.

The service runs on tokenised deposits held on a private, permissioned blockchain. That setup lets Citi move liquidity across its global network under programmable rules, with settlement that lands in near real time rather than in batches.

Tokenised deposits are digital claims on commercial bank money recorded on a shared ledger rather than shifted through conventional correspondent messaging. For a corporate client, the practical effect is fewer constraints on when funding can move and more control over how it moves.

What clients get differs by country. Japan handles US dollar transactions. In the UAE, the bank supports both dollars and euros.

The two markets join deployments already running in the United States, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Hong Kong. That takes the total to seven.

Citi cites the scale of cross-border flows in both countries and their standing as financial centres as the reason for the move. The UAE, in particular, is described as a gateway for trade and investment serving the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, with a growing concentration of multinational treasury operations.

Real-time dollars in Japan

In Japan, dollar payments can now enter and leave the country in real time. Corporate treasurers and financial institutions operating there gain a way to manage liquidity without waiting on cut-off times. Kanika Thakur, who heads services for Japan, Asia North and Australia, said the launch connects clients in the market to the bank's round-the-clock payments, collateral and liquidity services, and helps treasurers keep less cash sitting idle.

Cross-currency coverage in the UAE

The UAE rollout gives clients round-the-clock handling of dollar and euro liquidity, including cross-currency positions. Treasury teams spanning several countries can shift balances between the two currencies without being tied to a single time zone's banking hours.

Stephen Randall, global head of liquidity management services, framed the rollout as a way to extend round-the-clock liquidity to more of the markets where Citi's clients operate and to keep scaling the network.

Part of a wider digital assets push

The expansion sits alongside other work in the bank's digital assets programme, including 24/7 USD Clearing and connections to multi-bank tokenised networks taking shape across the industry. Citi says the aim is to deliver multi-currency liquidity and payment tools that interoperate across systems rather than sitting in isolation.

Seven markets are now live. The bank's stated goal is a network in which tokenised balances held across different banks and currencies can be used together.