Summary
- Citi and Coinbase will let clients accept stablecoin payments through Spring by Citi, with conventional currency settlement.
- Coinbase Virtual Accounts will convert incoming conventional currency into stablecoins, linking customer funding with the companies’ broader digital payment infrastructure.
- Separately, Citi’s tokenized depositary receipts offer foreign investors access to private company shares through regulated blockchain infrastructure operated by SIX.
Citigroup will let corporate clients accept stablecoin payments through an expanded Coinbase partnership, bringing digital currency payments into its merchant services. According to The Wall Street Journal, businesses will offer the payment option through Spring by Citi, the bank’s checkout platform.
How Citi and Coinbase Will Handle Stablecoin Payments
Coinbase will provide the blockchain payment infrastructure and convert customer stablecoins into conventional currency before Citi settles the merchant’s funds. Citi will act as the bank handling settlement, allowing clients to add stablecoin acceptance within an existing banking relationship.
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The checkout service advances a collaboration Citi and Coinbase announced in October 2025 to connect traditional payments with digital assets. Initially, the companies planned to improve transfers between conventional currency and digital assets for institutional customers. They also explored alternative ways to convert conventional currency into stablecoins for payouts.
Now, their work extends to payments that customers make directly to participating businesses at checkout. Coinbase’s infrastructure will handle the digital payment, while Citi will manage settlement through its merchant services. However, the companies have not specified which stablecoins or blockchain networks the checkout service will support.
The partnership also works in the opposite direction through Citi’s Virtual Account Wallet and Coinbase Virtual Accounts. Those accounts will convert incoming conventional currency into stablecoins, giving Coinbase customers another route into digital payments. Consequently, the expanded arrangement covers both stablecoin acceptance for Citi merchants and currency conversion for Coinbase customers.
Citi has pursued other digital asset services alongside its work with Coinbase, including tokenized deposits for institutional payments. Its Citi Token Services product supports payments and liquidity transfers, while its planned custody service will start with Bitcoin. The bank expects to launch custody for native digital assets in 2026 as part of its broader offering.
Citi Also Broadens Access to Private Company Shares
Just recently, Citi has introduced tokenized depositary receipts that represent shares in private companies and give investors another way to access them. The venture initially serves foreign investors, while Citi discusses participation with several large private companies. The bank has not identified those companies, leaving the potential range of future issuers unclear.
The product addresses growing interest in private shares as some companies spend longer outside public stock markets. Citi uses regulated blockchain infrastructure operated by SIX to record the receipts and serves as their issuer and custodian. In June, the bank completed an initial transaction involving Kaleido and investors within its wealth business.
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