Nikolas Sargeant
TL;DR
-
Citi and Coinbase are expanding their payments partnership for corporate and institutional clients.
-
Citi’s Virtual Account Wallet will support Coinbase Virtual Accounts, which can automatically convert incoming fiat into stablecoins.
-
Citi clients will be able to accept stablecoin payments through Spring by Citi and receive settlement in fiat.
Citi and Coinbase are deepening their partnership to connect traditional banking services with stablecoin payments.
The companies’ latest initiatives give businesses two ways to move between fiat currency and digital assets: through virtual accounts offered by Coinbase and stablecoin acceptance for Citi’s institutional merchant clients. The rollout will begin in the United States.
Citi to Power Coinbase Virtual Accounts
Coinbase announced that it has selected Citi’s Virtual Account Wallet to provide the banking infrastructure behind Coinbase Virtual Accounts.
The accounts are designed to let business customers accept, hold, and pay fiat funds, while automatically converting incoming fiat into stablecoins.
That setup gives customers a way to use stablecoins within their payment workflows without building separate banking connections and conversion processes themselves.
Citi supplies the regulated banking infrastructure, while Coinbase provides the payments technology linking fiat and digital assets.
Merchants Can Accept Stablecoins and Settle in Fiat
The partnership also brings Coinbase’s stablecoin payment infrastructure to Spring by Citi, the bank’s payment acceptance platform. Citi’s institutional merchant clients can accept a customer’s stablecoin payment at checkout; Coinbase converts the digital asset into fiat, and Citi settles the funds as the bank of record. Merchants therefore do not need to hold or manage the stablecoins they receive as payment.
The announcement builds on a collaboration the companies first disclosed in October 2025, when they said they would explore ways to improve payments between traditional currencies and digital assets.
Coinbase says further capabilities will follow the initial U.S. launch, though it has not provided a detailed rollout schedule.
