Citigroup and Coinbase said on Monday they had widened their existing partnership so that Citi’s business customers can take stablecoin payments without handling the tokens themselves, according to Bitcoinmagazine.
The announcement covers two products. Coinbase Virtual Accounts, built on Citi’s banking-as-a-service platform, give Coinbase’s payments customers bank-account-like features for accepting, holding and sending funds, with Citi supplying the regulated banking layer that converts incoming fiat into stablecoins automatically. Separately, Citi’s merchant platform Spring by Citi will use Coinbase infrastructure so Citi enterprise clients can accept stablecoin payments at checkout; Coinbase converts the stablecoins to fiat and Citi settles the funds.
Also readHow to Accept Stablecoin Payments as a Business: A Practical Guide
Debopama Sen, Head of Payments, Services at Citi, said the bank’s goal is to build payments infrastructure that is “seamless, interoperable, and operates across both traditional and digital payments instruments and networks.” Alec Lovett, Coinbase’s Head of Infrastructure Product, said fintechs building on Coinbase have always needed a fast, compliant bridge between fiat and stablecoins, and that Citi provides it at scale.
Key facts
- The two products launch first in the U.S., with more capabilities planned in the coming months, Coinbase said.
- Coinbase put the potential audience at more than 150 million stablecoin holders worldwide, per Decrypt.
- Coinbase and Citi first announced their partnership in October 2025, covering fiat pay-ins and payouts for institutional clients, as Decrypt reported.
- Ambcrypto reported that the first step is 24/7 fiat on- and off-ramps, with the stablecoin leg still being worked out and more details promised in the next few months.
- Citi has since pushed into digital assets, announcing plans in August to add Bitcoin custody to its Custody+ suite, according to Decrypt.
Two directions of the same deal
The arrangement runs both ways. Citi’s merchant clients get a way to accept stablecoin payments while receiving settlement in fiat, and Coinbase’s business accounts get bank-like features running on Citi’s rails. Ambcrypto framed the first stage as moving money in and out of crypto as easily as transferring between two bank accounts, without waiting for a weekday bank window.
Also readHyundai Card Tests Stablecoin Payments Between US and Mexico Subsidiaries
The reports differ slightly in emphasis. Bitcoinmagazine described the stablecoin conversion and settlement flow as already part of the announcement, while Ambcrypto said the stablecoin element is still being worked out and that the initial step is fiat on- and off-ramps. Decrypt reported both features as launching first in the U.S. with more capabilities planned in the coming months, and quoted Brett Tejpaul, head of Coinbase Institutional, saying Citi is the kind of regulated banking partner the digital asset economy needs to move from experimentation to everyday commerce.
Bitcoinmagazine noted the deal is the latest example of large banks using Bitcoin’s underlying technology to speed up their processes, and that Citi has other blockchain offerings, including Citi Token Services for real-time cross-border payments using tokenized deposits. Citi has also worked with Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America since last year to explore issuing a stablecoin product.
Why it matters
Stablecoin settlement can run around the clock, which matters to merchants and treasury teams that currently depend on banking hours. For Citi’s corporate clients, the change means accepting a dollar-pegged token at checkout without a crypto desk or custody arrangement, because Coinbase handles conversion and Citi acts as the bank of record.
For Coinbase, the deal puts its payments infrastructure inside a global bank’s merchant platform and gives its business customers bank-account-like functionality through Citi rather than a standalone crypto account. Ambcrypto reported that Citi already moves dollars 24/7 and has its own token service, and that more than $306 billion in stablecoins were outstanding according to DeFiLlama, citing BlackRock disclosures that stablecoins handled $11.2 trillion in transactions last year, slightly more than Mastercard’s $10.6 trillion, with the first half of 2026 adding $8.5 trillion. Ambcrypto noted stablecoin volume also counts trading and DeFi activity, so the comparison is not like-for-like.
What to watch
Both firms said additional capabilities will follow in the coming months, so the next signals are the first live merchant and business clients in the U.S. and any expansion beyond the initial market. On Citi’s side, its planned Bitcoin custody addition to Custody+ is the other thread to track.
Sources: Bitcoin Magazine, Decrypt, Ambcrypto
