Citi Partners with Coinbase to Enable Stablecoin Payments for Clients

Citi and Coinbase Enhance Partnership for Stablecoin Payments

Citi has expanded its partnership with Coinbase, allowing its institutional clients to accept stablecoin payments through its merchant service, Spring by Citi. This initiative enables clients to process payments in stablecoins without needing to hold the cryptocurrencies directly.

Coinbase announced this enhancement on Monday, stating that its payment system will now integrate with Spring by Citi. As part of this collaboration, Coinbase will convert stablecoins into fiat currency, while Citi will manage the settlement of these transactions.

Stablecoins, which are pegged to traditional currencies like the U.S. dollar, offer the advantage of facilitating real-time transaction settlements. Additionally, Coinbase will utilize Citi's Virtual Account Wallet, a banking-as-a-service feature, to establish Coinbase Virtual Accounts. These accounts will allow businesses to receive, hold, and transfer funds, with incoming fiat automatically converted into stablecoins.

The new features will launch initially in the U.S., targeting a global audience of over 150 million stablecoin holders. Brett Tejpaul, head of Coinbase Institutional, emphasized the importance of having a regulated banking partner like Citi to help transition digital assets into mainstream commerce.

This latest development builds on a partnership that began in October 2025, aimed at improving crypto on- and off-ramps for Citi's institutional clientele. Citi has been actively pursuing advancements in digital assets, including plans to offer Bitcoin custody services within its Custody+ suite. Meanwhile, Coinbase continues to diversify its offerings, recently introducing fixed-rate USDC loans secured by Bitcoin and launching tokenized stocks on its Base network.