Citigroup launched Digital Depositary Receipts backed by shares of private companies. The new instrument gives investors access to private market equity through tokenized infrastructure, while allowing companies to raise capital without going public.
Citi introduced Digital Depositary Receipts (DDR), the first tokenized depositary receipts backed by private company shares. The solution is built on the regulated blockchain infrastructure of Swiss financial market operator SIX, which runs one of the world’s first licensed digital central securities depositories.
The new product targets private capital markets, where companies are facing increasingly longer timelines to reach an IPO. According to Citi, existing secondary markets for private company shares remain fragmented, rely on multiple intermediaries, and often involve opaque fee structures.
Digital Depositary Receipts are designed to address these challenges through a simpler ownership and servicing model. Citi acts as both the sole issuer and custodian, helping reduce transaction complexity and potential costs.
According to Citi, the new model provides:
- private companies with an opportunity to raise capital without going public;
- issuers with greater control over voting rights and a simplified shareholder management structure;
- investors with direct access to private company shares through tokenized instruments.
The first transaction under the new framework involved the issuance of Digital Depositary Receipts tied to Kaleido, an asset tokenization platform and a Citi portfolio company. Clients of Citi Wealth participated in the transaction, while Citi’s Secondary Private Markets team provided support.
Bis Chatterjee, Head of Partnerships and Innovation at Citi Services, said the product was designed to safeguard assets and expand access to private capital markets while maintaining standards commonly associated with traditional financial infrastructure. He added that interoperability across different digital infrastructures could eventually broaden access for a wider range of issuers and investors.
Deborah Querub, Head of Digital Assets for Citi Wealth, said the new instrument would allow clients to invest in private companies through a familiar investment framework while preserving existing safeguards and operational controls.
Kaleido Founder and CEO Steve Cerveny said the model brings a level of transparency and professionalism that has long been absent from private market capital formation. According to Cerveny, it creates new growth opportunities for companies without sacrificing the flexibility that remains one of the key advantages of staying private.
Citi is also exploring ways to expand the use of DDR across both digital and traditional financial market infrastructures, as well as integrate the product with multiple blockchain networks.
In July 2025, Citi and Swiss digital asset exchange SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) announced a joint initiative aimed at building infrastructure for the tokenization of private market assets.
