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Bitcoin custody is moving into core banking infrastructure. On Aug 18, Citi unveiled Custody+, a custody suite built for compressed settlement cycles and continuous markets. Native digital asset custody is expected later this year, starting with BTC on a common architecture for traditional and digital assets. Citi had previously identified the US as a planned launch market. Crypto’s 24/7 settlement model is now influencing how traditional custody infrastructure is rebuilt. Institutions could hold BTC itself through a bank instead of gaining price exposure through an ETF, while using familiar reporting, compliance and risk processes. The scale matters. As of Q3 2025, Citi Investor Services reported about $31.4T in assets under custody and administration and more than 1.3M custody transactions daily. The timing is partly regulatory. Banks had been permitted to custody crypto, but earlier accounting and supervisory requirements created significant friction. SEC SAB 122 and OCC changes in 2025 helped reduce key accounting and supervisory barriers. This is not a standalone move. Citi says it already offers custody for stablecoin reserves and crypto ETFs. Its tokenized-deposit platform is live in five locations, with hundreds of clients moving close to $1B a day. But outsourcing key management does not eliminate risk. It changes where that risk sits. Native BTC custody is not live yet, and Citi has not detailed its fees, asset-segregation model, insurance or underlying wallet infrastructure. This announcement concerns custody for client assets, not a disclosed BTC purchase for Citi’s own balance sheet. Bank custody could lower barriers to direct institutional ownership while raising questions about custody concentration among a smaller group of regulated providers. If your bank offered native BTC custody without requiring you to manage a seed phrase, would you use it or stay with self-custody? #CitiToCustodyBTC