Coinbase and Citi announced an expanded collaboration to simplify fiat and stablecoin payments for businesses, eliminating the need to operate separate banking and digital asset systems. The partnership, which launches first in the United States with additional capabilities coming in the following months, pairs Coinbase‘s payments infrastructure with Citi‘s regulated banking rails to create a direct path between traditional finance and digital assets.
- Coinbase Virtual Accounts: Powered by Citi‘s Virtual Account Wallet, enabling businesses to accept, hold, and send funds with automatic fiat-to-stablecoin conversion
- Stablecoin Acceptance: Integrated with Spring by Citi, allowing merchants to accept stablecoin payments and receive fiat settlement without managing digital assets directly
- Geographic Reach: Citi operates across more than 180 countries and jurisdictions, with the stablecoin payment solution serving a market of over 150 million stablecoin holders worldwide
The collaboration addresses a practical problem businesses face: scaling fiat-to-stablecoin conversions typically requires managing separate banking and cryptocurrency infrastructure in parallel. Coinbase Virtual Accounts provide bank-account-like functionality with incoming fiat automatically converted into stablecoins, while Citi‘s regulated banking infrastructure ensures these accounts operate at scale and connect seamlessly to the global financial system.
Fintechs building on Coinbase have always needed a fast, compliant bridge between fiat and stablecoins, and Citi gives us that at scale. By powering our Virtual Accounts with Citi’s regulated banking infrastructure, we’re giving businesses bank-account-like functionality with the speed of stablecoins underneath it, and pairing that with stablecoin acceptance through Spring by Citi means our shared customers can move between fiat and digital assets without ever having to think about which one they’re touching.
– Alec Lovett, Head of Infrastructure Product, Coinbase
Citi is exactly the kind of regulated banking partner the digital asset economy needs to move from experimentation to everyday commerce. This collaboration gives Coinbase customers bank-grade fiat infrastructure on one side and Citi’s institutional clients easy, low-friction stablecoin acceptance on the other, without either side needing to build or manage a system they don’t need.
– Brett Tejpaul, Head of Coinbase Institutional
Our clients operate in an increasingly fast-paced and complex global economy, and we’re focused on delivering the solutions they need. Our goal is to build the next generation of payments infrastructure – one that is seamless, interoperable, and operates across both traditional and digital payments instruments and networks. This is about enabling the future of commerce, today.
– Debopama Sen, Head of Payments, Services, Citi
For merchants using Spring by Citi, the integration means accepting stablecoin payments at checkout without directly holding or managing digital currencies. Coinbase‘s infrastructure automatically converts incoming stablecoins to fiat, with Citi settling funds as the bank of record. Coinbase Prime operates Coinbase‘s institutional-grade products and services for digital asset businesses.
Alec Lovett, Head of Infrastructure Product at Coinbase. Source: LinkedIn
Brett Tejpaul, Head of Coinbase Institutional. Source: LinkedIn
Debopama Sen, Head of Payments, Services at Citi. Source: LinkedIn
