Citi Institutional Clients Can Accept Stablecoin Payments Through Coinbase

Citi and Coinbase, the crypto exchange, announced on September 28 an expanded collaboration that lets Citi institutional clients accept stablecoin payments at checkout through Coinbase’s payments infrastructure. Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to track currencies such as the US dollar. Coinbase converts the payments into fiat, or conventional currency, and Citi settles the client’s funds as the bank of record.

The service gives large businesses a way to accept stablecoins without holding or managing them. The announcement also has Coinbase using Citi’s Virtual Account Wallet to power Coinbase Virtual Accounts for its payments customers. The work extends the companies’ October 2025 collaboration.

Merchants receive fiat, not stablecoins

The checkout process runs through Spring by Citi, the bank’s platform for merchant acquiring, gateway technology and settlement. Coinbase Payments powers the stablecoin acceptance.

A customer pays with a stablecoin, Coinbase converts the payment into fiat currency, and Citi settles those funds for the merchant. The merchant receives only fiat, with no custody of the tokens and no separate exchange step.

The announcement leaves out the supported stablecoins, blockchain networks, conversion fees and settlement times, and it does not say how refunds or chargebacks will work.

>>> Read more: SoFi Bank Launches SoFiUSD Stablecoin on Ethereum

Coinbase gains access to Citi’s banking rails

The expanded collaboration also works in the opposite direction. Coinbase Virtual Accounts give payments customers bank-account-like functions for accepting, holding and paying fiat funds, and incoming fiat is converted automatically into stablecoins. Coinbase says the setup removes the need for companies to operate separate banking and stablecoin systems. Citi provides the regulated banking infrastructure behind the fiat accounts. Coinbase lists branded virtual accounts for a client’s own customers among the things businesses can build on Coinbase’s payments infrastructure.

Launching first in the United States

Both initiatives are launching there first. Transaction volumes, merchant names and dates for expansion into other countries remain undisclosed, as does whether every eligible institutional client can activate the service immediately.

The October 2025 announcement covered fiat pay-ins and pay-outs for Citi’s institutional clients, supporting Coinbase’s on-ramps and off-ramps, the systems that convert between fiat and digital assets. Stablecoin payout methods were to be explored. The new service adds stablecoin acceptance to Citi’s merchant-payment channel.

>>> Read more: Checkout.com Partners With Coinbase to Bring Stablecoin Payments to Enterprise Merchants

Paying in stablecoins, settling in fiat

Stablecoins can move through blockchain networks outside banking hours, but businesses often need fiat for payroll, suppliers and other conventional payments. Splitting the roles between Coinbase and Citi could lower the operational burden for merchants. The companies put the market at more than 150 million stablecoin holders worldwide.

Citi and Coinbase plan to continue collaborating on additional capabilities in the coming months.