Citigroup has partnered with Coinbase to enable corporate clients to accept stablecoin payments without directly managing cryptocurrency, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal. Under the arrangement, Coinbase provides the public blockchain infrastructure while Citi converts incoming stablecoin payments into traditional currency and handles settlement.
The partnership builds on a collaboration announced in October 2025. Coinbase handles the blockchain transaction when a corporate customer receives a stablecoin payment, Citi converts the tokens into ordinary money, and the merchant receives payment through its bank account. Corporate customers can accept stablecoin payments without managing their own crypto wallets, as incoming tokens convert automatically into fiat currency.
Existing Tokenized Operations
Citi's Token Services platform, operational since 2024, already moves roughly $1 billion daily in tokenized bank deposits between Citi branches around the clock. This represents a portion of the approximately $6 trillion that moves through Citi's broader payments business.
Citi's existing tokenized deposits operate on a private, permissioned ledger that does not automatically accept stablecoins arriving from public blockchain wallets. The new arrangement with Coinbase addresses this gap by connecting public blockchain infrastructure to Citi's established banking operations, which span 94 markets and more than 300 payment networks.
Undisclosed Details
Citigroup and Coinbase have not disclosed several key commercial details, including a launch date, participating corporate clients, or which stablecoins will be supported. Citi is also expanding tokenized bank transfers toward Japan and the United Arab Emirates, and has begun offering cryptocurrency custody services through its Custody+ offering, starting with bitcoin.
