The Foundation has also launched a collaborative working group for traditional financial institutions to work atop of the company’s Besu Ethereum client.
Citi Bank Tests Tokenization of Private Equity Funds on Avalanche
The firm tested a variety of use cases through Avalanche’s subnet with a focus on private markets.
Citi Alumni-Founded Startup to Offer Bitcoin Securities That Don’t Need Green Light From SEC: Bloomberg
RDC’s aim is to address the institutional desire to bitcoin investment that may not be satisfied by a spot ETF.
Singapore introduces five new pilots to test asset tokenization
The latest initiatives led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore aim to develop foundational capabilities to scale tokenized markets.
Banking Giants Abuzz About Tokenization of Real-World Assets as DeFi Craves Collateral
JPMorgan, Citi and Franklin Templeton are digitizing traditional assets. Will they end up trading on crypto networks like Ethereum?
Crypto Biz: Bidding war for SVB Capital, new crypto funds and Citi’s private blockchain
This week’s Crypto Biz explores SVB Capital bids, new funds from Blockchain Capital, the Hut 8-US Bitcoin merger and Citigroup’s private blockchain.
Citigroup Unveils Token Services for Institutional Clients
In a pilot, Citi used smart contracts to serve the same purpose as bank guarantees and letters of credit working with shipping company Maersk and a canal authority.
Citi Token Services will provide payments, liquidity to institutional customers
The new blockchain-based service will use tokenized deposits for trading and liquidity services after two pilots.
Coinbase stock will be ‘weighed down’ until US rules are clear: Citi
The investment bank downgraded Coinbase stock to “Neutral” amid the exchange’s ongoing battle with U.S. regulators.
Coinbase Faced With Too Much Regulatory Uncertainty, Rating Cut to Neutral: Citi
The bank slashed its price target for the crypto exchange to $65 from $80.
‘Killer use case’: Citi says trillions in assets could be tokenized by 2030
The bank predicts the private equity market to become the most “tokenized” asset class because it is more liquid and can be fractionalized.
‘Metaverse’ a top 3 contender for Oxford’s Word of the Year
Oxford University has opened public voting for the first time with polls set to close on Dec. 2.
SWIFT and Symbiont announce corporate data blockchain pilot
The message-system processes over five billion transactions a year and seeks to maintain its relevance by integrating disruptive technologies to its business.
Citi calls out potential risks of crypto-backed mortgages and benefits of metaverse property
“Ultimately, the cryptocurrency may be liquidated if the collateral value falls below a certain threshold, such as 35% of the property value,” said the report.
Nexo hires Citibank to advise on acquisitions during market turmoil
“We’re in this together” — Crypto lending platform Nexo has appointed Citibank to advise on acquisitions from struggling crypto firms.
Talos raises $105M to become the latest crypto unicorn valued at $1.3B
PayPal-backed crypto firm Talos has raised fresh funding from companies like Ken Fox’s private equity firm Stripes, BNY Mellon, Citi and others.
Metaverse May Be Worth $13 Trillion By 2030, US Banking Giant Citi Says
Citi is the latest banking behemoth to give an optimistic forecast for the metaverse, which envisions the internet’s future as a collection of decentralized technology and virtual environments.
According to the New York-headquartered global investment bank, the metaverse economy may be worth up to $13 trillion by 2030.
While some remain suspicious of the metaverse, the Wall Street player says it sees tremendous potential in the concept of extended reality.
According to the Citi analysis, the metaverse is mainly defined at the moment as an immersive mix of online gaming platforms that rely heavily on 3D interactive play with others or offline augmented reality.
Suggested Reading | Bitcoin Helps Market Hover Past $2 Trillion As BTC Nears $48,000
However, this will change in the future years. The multinational lender anticipates that the metaverse’s user base will grow to as many as 5 billion.
Citi Metaverse Concept Encompasses Gaming
Citi’s understanding of the metaverse is broader than gaming and virtual reality applications. Its expansive vision encompasses smart manufacturing technology, virtual advertising, online events such as concerts, and digital currencies such as bitcoin.
However, Citi noted that it will take time, with the metaverse’s content streaming environment likely requiring a “computational efficiency gain of more than 1,000x today’s levels.”
According to the bank’s report:
“We believe the Metaverse is the next generation of the internet, fusing the physical and digital worlds in a persistent and immersive manner, rather than being a purely virtual reality environment.”
BTC total market cap at $875.81 billion on the weekly chart | Source: TradingView.com
The report states that the 5 billion figure is an estimate. It includes a mobile phone user base, and if the metaverse is limited to VR/AR devices, it projects a closer to 1 billion audience.
A Lot Of Work To Do
Citi stated that achieving the bank’s vision of a “Brave New Meta World” by 2030 will require substantial investment and technology enhancements.
Suggested Reading | Fed Chair Powell Says Crypto Requires New Rules, Citing ‘Threats’ To US Financial System
Citi’s 184-page report delves deeply into numerous facets of the metaverse.
They contain a definition of the virtual realm, its infrastructure, cryptoassets such as NFTs, money and DeFi, as well as regulatory changes affecting the virtual world.
Other Wall Street Players Are Bullish
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs estimated the sector’s value at $12.5 trillion in a December report, based on a bullish scenario in which 70% of the digital economy pivots to the metaverse and then doubles in size.
Morgan Stanley, another prominent investment firm, anticipated the same figure for the metaverse in November of last year.
Bank of America, on the other hand, pointed out that the metaverse represents a big opportunity for the entire crypto industry.
Featured image from Bitcoin Insider, chart from TradingView.com
Citi’s digital asset co-heads resign with plans to create crypto startup
This move follows various other banking veterans making the change from Wall Street to crypto ventures.
Former Citi banker launches $1.5B crypto fund, taps Algorand as first partner
The crypto economy continues to lure top talent from Wall Street. Matt Zhang becomes the latest industry veteran to jump ship.
Citi’s bullish Coinbase target: ‘Buy crypto’s general store’
Multinational investment bank thinks Coinbase stock is worth 30% more than its current price.