Citi Collaborates with Wellington Management and WisdomTree to Explore Tokenization of Private Markets

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Citi has announced that it has successfully completed a proof of concept on tokenization of private funds along with Wellington Management and WisdomTree.

The proof of concept, which was conducted on the Avalanche Spruce institutional test Subnet, found that smart-contract capabilities could deliver new functionality and operational efficiencies, which are currently unavailable with traditional assets. These new functionalities could enable buy- and sell-side institutions to engage with distributed ledger infrastructure in a low-risk, low barrier-to-entry manner that is consistent with regulations.

Private markets, although a $10 trillion asset class¹, are characterized by an infrastructure that is complex and manual, with a lack of standardization and transparency, leading to inefficient distribution and operations. There are often complex legal and regulatory restrictions related to private assets.

With ABN AMRO simulating the role of a traditional investor, the proof of concept tested the tokenization of a Wellington issued private equity fund by bringing it onto a distributed ledger technology (DLT) network. The underlying fund distribution rules were encoded into the smart contract and embedded in the token transferred to hypothetical WisdomTree clients. The proof of concept demonstrated how smart contracts could be used to enable greater automation and potentially create an enhanced compliance and control environment for issuers, distributors, and investors.

As part of the experiment, Citi also evaluated multiple scenarios of transfers using smart contracts relying on simulated identity credentials issued by WisdomTree and using a private fund token as collateral in an automated lending contract with DTCC Digital Assets (formerly Securrency).

By evaluating relevant technical, legal and operational frameworks needed to bring traditional assets on to a digital platform, Citi explored how to support clients issuing and accessing tokenized private assets in a controlled and scalable manner, while ensuring interoperability with the traditional ecosystem.

“Smart contracts and blockchain technology can enable enhanced rule-enforcement at an infrastructure-level, allowing data and workflows to travel with the asset. We believe that by testing the tokenization of private assets, we are exploring the feasibility to open-up new operating models and create efficiencies for the broader market,” stated Nisha Surendran, Emerging Solutions Lead for Citi Digital Assets.

“The Avalanche Spruce test network has proven to be an ample technical sandbox environment for coming together with partners and exploring the potential of blockchain technology within our industry. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with Citi, strong, long-term partners who are providing meaningful developments and thought leadership in the blockchain space,” said Mark Garabedian, Director, Digital Assets & Tokenization Strategy, Wellington Management.

Maredith Hannon Sapp, Head of Business Development, Digital Assets, at WisdomTree said, “We believe blockchain-enabled finance is the future of the industry, and This Proof-of-Concept showcases the ability to explore the transferability of tokenized funds and related compliance in different markets. This will inform future in-production use cases of how blockchain technology and smart contracts can be used in on-chain transactions.”

Citi continues to develop digital asset solutions, in line with its goals and risk appetite, using a unified set of shared technology capabilities and a common strategic approach. These innovative solutions enhance Citi’s products and services including digital money, trade, securities, custody, asset servicing and collateral mobility.

About Citi

Citi is a preeminent banking partner for institutions with cross-border needs, a global leader in wealth management and a valued personal bank in its home market of the United States. Citi does business in nearly 160 countries and jurisdictions, providing corporations, governments, investors, institutions and individuals with a broad range of financial products and services.

Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi

About Wellington Management

Wellington Management is one of the world’s largest independent investment management firms, serving as a trusted adviser to over 2,500 clients in more than 60 countries. The firm manages more than US$1.1 trillion for pensions, endowments and foundations, insurers, family offices, fund sponsors, global wealth managers, and other clients. Wellington aspires to provide excellent service to clients through a unique combination of independence enabled by its distinctive private partnership model, diverse perspectives through its unified, multi-asset investment platform, and relentless curiosity and intellectual rigor fostered by its enduring collaborative culture.

For more information visit www.wellington.com.

About WisdomTree

WisdomTree is a global financial innovator, offering a well-diversified suite of exchange-traded products (ETPs), models, solutions and products leveraging blockchain-enabled technology. We empower investors and consumers to shape their future and support financial professionals to better serve their clients and grow their businesses. WisdomTree is leveraging the latest financial infrastructure to create products that provide access, transparency and an enhanced user experience. Building on our heritage of innovation, we are also developing and have launched next-generation digital products, services and structures, including digital or blockchain-enabled mutual funds and tokenized assets, as well as our blockchain-native digital wallet, WisdomTree Prime™.

WisdomTree currently has approximately $101.2 billion in assets under management globally.

For more information about WisdomTree, visit: https://www.wisdomtree.com.

Please visit us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @WisdomTreeNews.

About Avalanche

Avalanche is a smart contracts platform that scales infinitely and regularly finalizes transactions in less than one second. Its novel consensus protocol, Subnet infrastructure, and HyperSDK toolkit enable Web3 developers to easily launch powerful, custom blockchain solutions. Build anything you want, any way you want, on the eco-friendly blockchain designed for Web3 devs.

About DTCC

With 50 years of experience, DTCC is the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry. From 20 locations around the world, DTCC, through its subsidiaries, automates, centralizes, and standardizes the processing of financial transactions, mitigating risk, increasing transparency, enhancing performance and driving efficiency for thousands of broker/dealers, custodian banks and asset managers. Industry owned and governed, the firm innovates purposefully, simplifying the complexities of clearing, settlement, asset servicing, transaction processing, trade reporting and data services across asset classes and bringing increased security, enhanced resilience and soundness to financial markets. To learn more, visit www.dtcc.com.

About DTCC Digital Assets

DTCC Digital Assets provides institutional-grade infrastructure and products to facilitate end-to-end lifecycle processing for digital assets. Its innovative digital infrastructure enables market participants to unlock the power of institutional DeFi by accessing secure, efficient, and compliant capital markets. DTCC Digital Assets’ blockchain agnostic solutions allow for near-real-time payments and blockchain interoperability and are designed to increase global liquidity. In addition, its technology will ultimately underpin the development of DTCC’s enterprise digital asset infrastructure.

¹ Citi BAS & Broadridge Private Capital Analysis

Contacts

Mikel Jones mikel.jones@citi.com +1 561 797 5577