Citibank, the consumer finance division of the multinational Citigroup, is one of the largest banks on the planet, has more than 2500 branches in approximately 20 countries and caters to more than 200 million customers. New reports according to Cheddar, indicate the growing interest of the bank in cryptocurrencies.

This move can be potentially game-changing as far as adoption of cryptocurrencies by the banks is concerned. While many banks have designed teams and processes to explore the applications of cryptocurrencies and blockchain into their systems, Citibank has reportedly taken a different approach of making a whole new crypto product for its consumers.

According to Cheddar,

“Most financial firms have groups dedicated to studying crypto assets and blockchain technology. But Citi has moved beyond thinking about crypto ‘in an abstract way’ to considering how it could package a consumer product. A Citi spokeswoman said the bank has conducted some consumer sentiment research about offering cryptocurrencies but that it ‘does not have plans for any crypto products or partnerships.’ Giving retail customers exposure to crypto assets would be a significant development for Citi, the third-largest U.S. bank by assets.”

Even more interesting is the fact that Juliana Berger, a senior vice president of product in Citibank, removed “Head of Consumer Crypto Asset Innovation” from her LinkedIn profile. The news is speculative in nature and comes from a person who is familiar with Citi’s plans but the authenticity and the surety of the release of such a product is still questionable.

Assuming that the bank aims towards the adoption of Bitcoin, there can be a wide range of products that the bank can offer to its consumers. They can offer services for trading and investment, can build an exchange platform or even link the customers’ Bitcoin wallet to their traditional bank wallets. Citi has been one of the companies who started talking about this space earlier than most banks and also had a blockchain partnership with Nasdaq which was unveiled in ConsenSys 2017.

Nobody knows when we’ll hear more about the product but what we do know is that any kind of Bitcoin product released by Citibank would inevitably expose it to the millions of users the bank has, which ultimately paves the way for massive adoption.