A landmark development in the convergence of traditional finance and blockchain technology has been reported by global banking giant Citigroup. The bank has successfully processed the entire lifecycle of a trade finance instrument—a bill of exchange—on the Solana blockchain. This operation, which covered issuance, transfer of ownership, and final settlement, was executed using Citi's proprietary tokenization platform, CIDAP (Citi Digital Assets Platform).
The project, conducted in partnership with Solana and audit firm PwC, represents a significant proof of concept for applying blockchain to the multi-trillion-dollar trade finance market. Citi's internal report, the 2026 Citi Supply Chain Financing report, highlighted how technologies like blockchain and AI are having a "profound impact on trade and supply chains," especially in an era disrupted by tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and global instability.
While Citi described the initiative as an internal proof of concept, Solana's official announcement on social media platform X stated the product is live and that the transaction was processed in a production environment, not a closed simulation. The bank confirmed the transaction did not revert to traditional off-chain reconciliation methods, demonstrating a fully on-chain workflow.
This move is part of Citi's broader digital asset strategy, which includes plans to launch regulated cryptocurrency custody services in 2026. With over $2.6 trillion in assets and operations in more than 160 countries, Citi's adoption signals a major institutional validation of public blockchain infrastructure for time-sensitive, high-value financial operations. The bank aims to leverage Solana's architecture—known for high throughput and low transaction costs—to reduce settlement cycles from days to near real-time, improving transparency and auditability in global supply chains.
The development underscores Solana's growing role as financial infrastructure for institutional projects. It joins other corporate giants like Alibaba, which recently launched infrastructure to speed up Solana RPC nodes, and asset managers like WisdomTree in building on the network. Solana Foundation President Lily Liu emphasized this positioning in a recent interview, stating, "Bitcoin is the asset. Solana is the infrastructure. It's financial infrastructure for the internet."
