Coinbase and Citi are expanding stablecoin payment services through virtual accounts backed by Citi’s regulated banking infrastructure. Citi’s Spring platform will let institutional clients a
Coinbase and Citi are expanding stablecoin payments for global businesses through a deeper banking partnership. The companies will connect Coinbase’s payments infrastructure directly with Citi’s regulated banking services for institutions. The arrangement provides virtual accounts for fiat deposits and stablecoin payment acceptance, with initiatives launching first in the United States.
https://twitter.com/coinbase/status/2104554110381121878?s=20Coinbase selected Citi’s Virtual Account Wallet to support Coinbase Virtual Accounts. The service gives payments customers bank-account-like functionality for accepting, holding and sending funds.
Incoming fiat automatically converts into stablecoins through Coinbase’s payments infrastructure. Meanwhile, Citi provides the regulated banking infrastructure behind the accounts.
The setup connects fiat and stablecoin activity without separate banking and digital asset systems. According to Coinbase, the accounts can operate at scale through Citi’s banking infrastructure.
Alec Lovett, Coinbase’s Infrastructure Product head, said the arrangement connects fiat and stablecoins.
The collaboration also brings Coinbase’s payments infrastructure to Spring by Citi. Citi operates Spring as a payment acceptance platform covering merchant acquiring, gateway technology and settlement.
Citi’s institutional clients can accept stablecoin payments at checkout without directly holding stablecoins. Coinbase converts the digital currency into fiat, while Citi settles the funds as the bank of record.
Notably, Coinbase said its payments infrastructure now reaches enterprise merchants through Citi. The companies said the service reaches more than 150 million stablecoin holders worldwide.
Brett Tejpaul, Coinbase’s head of Institutional, described Citi as a regulated banking partner for digital asset payments. He said the arrangement connects fiat infrastructure with stablecoin acceptance.
Businesses can also use the infrastructure to offer branded virtual accounts. They can accept, hold and send funds through accounts backed by regulated banking services. Additionally, incoming fiat can convert into stablecoins automatically.
Merchants can also accept stablecoin payments while receiving fiat settlement. Debopama Sen, Citi’s head of Payments, said the bank wants payment infrastructure to work across traditional and digital payment networks.
The companies said the initiatives will launch first in the United States. Additional capabilities are expected to follow in the coming months.
