Key points

• Coinbase will use Citi's Virtual Account Wallet to power its Virtual Accounts, letting customers accept, hold and pay fiat that is automatically converted into stablecoins.
• Citi's institutional clients can accept stablecoin payments through the Spring by Citi platform, with Coinbase providing the payment rails and converting digital assets into fiat for settlement.
• The initiatives launch first in the US and aim to give businesses bank-account-like functionality without merchants holding digital assets directly.
• The two firms first announced a collaboration in October 2025 focused on fiat-to-crypto payment infrastructure.
• Debopama Sen, Citi's head of payments, said the goal is payments infrastructure that works across traditional and digital instruments and networks.

Citi is expanding its Coinbase partnership to support stablecoin payments for corporate clients, The Block reports. The two companies said the work builds on a collaboration first announced in October 2025 that focused on fiat-to-crypto payment infrastructure. The new services are launching first in the United States.

Under the arrangement, Coinbase will use Citi's Virtual Account Wallet to power its Virtual Accounts. That setup lets customers accept, hold and pay fiat while incoming funds are automatically converted into stablecoins. Citi described the offering as giving businesses bank-account-like functionality alongside stablecoin payments.

In the other direction, Citi's institutional clients will be able to accept stablecoin payments through its Spring by Citi platform. Coinbase will handle the stablecoin payment rails and automatically convert the digital assets into fiat for settlement. The design means merchants do not need to hold or manage digital assets themselves.

Citi and Coinbase extend tie-up

Debopama Sen, Citi's head of payments, said clients operate in a fast-paced and complex global economy and that the bank is focused on delivering the solutions they need. She said the goal is to build the next generation of payments infrastructure, one that is seamless, interoperable and works across both traditional and digital payment instruments and networks.

The expansion follows earlier comments from both sides about improving digital payment initiatives. Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong said at the time of the original announcement that crypto and stablecoins are the tools that will update the global financial system, and that he was excited to work with Citi on stablecoin utility and digital asset adoption.

The tie-up places a large US bank and a major crypto exchange at the centre of efforts to connect conventional fiat payments with stablecoins. For corporate clients, the appeal is the ability to move value across both systems without directly touching digital assets.

How the two rails work

The Block reports that the initiatives are designed to make stablecoin payments usable for businesses through existing banking relationships. The firms have not said when the services might extend beyond the US.

Read the full article on The Block →