Citigroup's head of digital assets for markets unit departs, memo says

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup's head of digital assets for its markets unit, Shobhit Maini, is leaving the bank after more than 14 years, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

Maini, who joined Citigroup in 2010, according to his LinkedIn page, was global head of digital assets for Citi markets since 2021.

He is leaving Citi to pursue an entrepreneurial opportunity in the digital asset space, said Lee Smallwood, head of markets innovation and investments at the bank, in the memo.

Citigroup declined to comment. Maini did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Deepak Mehra will now lead digital assets for the markets unit in an expanded role, the memo said. Mehra is currently international lead for Citi markets' strategic investments.

Bloomberg News earlier reported Maini's departure.

Citigroup is involved in several digital money and tokenization projects. Last year it became the first digital custodian participant of the BondbloX Bond Exchange (BBX).

BBX, which was launched in 2020 to simplify bond investing, is the world's first fractional bond exchange.

(Reporting by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Jamie Freed)