Citigroup (C) CEO Jane Fraser offered a clear attitude to the future of digital financing and told investors that tokenized deposits-not stableecoins will be the primary engine behind the next generation payments and infrastructure for the financial market.
Fraser talking about an investor call after the bank’s income release from the third quarter Tuesday explained that institutional clients are asking for trouble -free, real -time cross -border money movement that is low cost and compatible.
“What our customers want is interoperable, multi-banking, always payment solutions delivered in a safe and healthy way,” she said. “It is best done by tokenized deposits.”
Citi has invested a lot in digital asset infrastructure, including its own dollar clearing network of $ 24/7. Fraser said the bank’s tokenized services can now link to over 250 banks in more than 40 markets, allowing clients to immediately transfer funds to suppliers and third parties. However, she also noted that the largest bottleneck for wider adoption is not technical, but that many trader departments are not yet ready for a 24 -hour financial environment.
While Citi will continue to support stableecoins – which offer on/off ramps, detention services and cash management for stableco -providers – emphasized Fraser that they come with more operational friction. It includes legislative burdens on anti-whitewashing money (AML), tax reporting and accounting. “These other requirements are what our tokenized deposits avoid,” she said.
Fraser has previously said that Citi is exploring the possibility of issuing her own stablecoin, but she warned against the overpype of the asset class. “There’s a superficial on stableecoin at the moment,” she said. “Most of this will be resolved with tokenized deposit functions.”
Looking ahead, Fraser Tokenization sees expand far beyond payments. She pointed to a future where the issuance and settlement of everything from oil to shares takes place on tokenized rails in a regulated, trusted environment.
The key, she said, is that regulators are beginning to enable responsible innovation.
“We deliver it as part of our tool set,” said Fraser. “It’s great that regulators now let us innovate in a responsible way. It will really help the development of the market.”
