SmartCon 2025 featured presentations from more than 100 web3 pioneers and financial leaders, who gathered to highlight the theme,“From Crypto to Capitol Hill.” To delve deeper into the most groundbreaking topics from this year’s event, Nasdaq TradeTalks’ Jill Malandrino interviewed some of the most influential speakers on-site at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Pavilion.
Ryan Rugg is Global Head of Digital Assets at Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS). She sat down with Malandrino to discuss why real-time interoperability is central to Citi’s digital asset strategy.
Citi serves 19,000 institutional clients in 180 countries and 94 markets. In 2023, Citi collaborated with Swift and a dozen top financial entities on a blockchain interoperability model powered by Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP). In 2024, Citi launched Citi Token Services (CTS) for real-time cash management and automated trade finance.
CTS’ cash management solution provides corporate clients with 24/7/365 infrastructure for cross-border cash transfers while its trade solution uses smart contracts to eliminate inefficiencies for clients like Danish shipping and logistics company, Maersk.
Rugg said CTS was conceived to address clients’ biggest pain point – friction – especially around cut-off times, weekends, and holidays.
“They really wanted 24/7/365 liquidity and payments within our global network,” she explained.
“If we think about the speed of the internet, why does the speed of money not match? It should be frictionless.”
Currently live in the U.S., Singapore, and Hong Kong, CTS allows clients to efficiently manage global liquidity without having to forecast funds needed for BAU activities in different regions.
“You don’t have to have that forecasting; you can do it immediately, even if it’s a Saturday or a Sunday. It’s taking that latent liquidity out of the system to add efficiency across the globe,” Rugg explained.
Citi recently announced plans to integrate CTS with its 24/7 USD Clearing solution, creating a 24/7, multibank, cross-border instant payments capability for institutional clients in the UK and the U.S. After a decade in the industry, Rugg said she’s excited to watch digital asset infrastructure make the leap from proof of concept to business mainstay.
“I’m happy to say we’re now processing billions on CTS. We have close to 100 clients and we’re seeing new flows. Clients are using it as a system of record. They’re using it real-time.”
Watch Jill Malandrino’s full interview with Ryan Rugg.