Citigroup’s global head of markets digital assets Maini leaves

Shobhit Maini, former global head of digital assets in Citigroup Inc.’s market unit

Shobhit Maini, global head of digital assets in Citigroup Inc.’s market unit, has left the bank to pursue other opportunities in the crypto industry, according to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg News.

Maini spent more than 14 years at Citigroup, according to a profile on Linkedin, and most recently led the digital assets team under the markets division. He left to pursue “an entrepreneurial opportunity in the digital asset space,” according to the memo, which was sent last week by Lee Smallwood, head of markets innovation and investments at Citigroup.

A spokesperson at Citi declined to comment. Maini did not respond to a request for comment via Linkedin messages.

Deepak Mehra, international lead for markets strategic investments, will expand his current position to also lead the markets digital assets team, according to the memo.

Citigroup has been exploring ways to update their existing infrastructure with blockchain technology for several years, with the aim of providing greater transparency and the ability to settle transactions instantly. Citigroup in February said that it has carried out a test which shows how a private equity fund can be “tokenized” on a blockchain network.