Citi’s institutional customers in the United States can now accept stablecoin payments without directly holding the digital tokens, following an expanded partnership between the bank and Coinbase. The arrangement is designed to let businesses use stablecoins at checkout while receiving settled funds in fiat currency.
How the payment service works
Coinbase has connected its payments infrastructure to Spring by Citi, the bank’s merchant payments platform. Through the service, Citi’s institutional clients can accept stablecoins from customers. Coinbase converts the incoming tokens into fiat currency, while Citi settles the funds as the bank of record.
Stablecoins are digital assets designed to maintain a value pegged to a traditional currency, most commonly the U.S. dollar. Unlike conventional bank transfers, they can settle around the clock, according to the companies’ announcement.
The setup means participating businesses do not need to take custody of the stablecoins used by their customers. Instead, the digital-asset payment is converted before the funds are settled through Citi.
Coinbase Virtual Accounts
The companies are also extending the arrangement in the opposite direction. Coinbase is using Citi’s Virtual Account Wallet, part of the bank’s banking-as-a-service operations, to support Coinbase Virtual Accounts.
Those accounts are intended for businesses building products on Coinbase. They can accept, hold and send money in a way similar to a bank account. Incoming fiat funds, including U.S. dollars, are automatically converted into stablecoins within the Coinbase system.
Both services are launching first in the United States. Citi and Coinbase said additional capabilities are planned in the coming months. Coinbase estimates that the potential audience includes more than 150 million stablecoin holders worldwide.
According to Decrypt, the expansion follows a partnership first announced in October 2025. That earlier agreement focused on fiat deposits and withdrawals for Citi’s institutional customers, helping connect traditional money with crypto services.
Broader digital-asset expansion
The latest announcement comes as Citi increases its involvement in digital assets. In August, the bank announced plans to add Bitcoin custody to its Custody+ suite, although the source material does not provide a launch date for that service.
Coinbase has also been expanding beyond its core trading business. Last week, it introduced fixed-rate USDC loans secured by Bitcoin and powered by Morpho. In August, it launched tokenized stocks on Base, its Ethereum layer-2 network, for customers outside the United States.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data recorded on September 25, 2026, showed the asset listed as Stable at $0.0263506981, down 0.32% over 24 hours but up 5.64% over seven days. Other listed assets were also mixed: AKEDO (AKE) was $0.0322406544, down 9.78% in 24 hours and 27.87% over seven days; Comedian (BAN) was $0.0680565597, up 4.16% and 0.14%, respectively; and BAS was $0.0236751724, down 0.6% over 24 hours and up 3.85% over seven days. These are Moneyiar market data at the stated time.
