Citi and Coinbase partner on stablecoin payments for corporate clients

Citigroup and Coinbase are connecting their systems so that corporate clients can move money in stablecoins, Benzinga reported. It is a clear sign that a large US bank sees stablecoins as payments infrastructure and not only as a tool for crypto trading.

The arrangement runs in both directions. Citi's corporate customers can accept stablecoin payments through the bank's merchant processing. Coinbase customers can use Citi's banking services, with automatic conversion into stablecoins.

Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong marked the deal on October 3 by pointing to how far things have moved. When the company started in 2012, he said, bank partnerships were close to impossible.

What changes with a deal like this is where stablecoins show up. A treasurer at a Citi client does not need a crypto exchange account or a new vendor to accept them. The option sits inside a banking relationship the company already has. Coinbase brings scale on the other side. Its products held about $20 billion of USDC in the second quarter, more than 30% of the supply.

The test is usage. An announcement is easier to produce than payment volume. Whether other large banks follow with comparable services, and how much money actually moves, will show whether this is a product or a pilot.