Citi, Coinbase Deepen Blockchain Banking Ties

Citi and Coinbase have expanded their partnership to connect traditional banking services with blockchain infrastructure through two new initiatives. The collaboration aims to provide seamless interactions between fiat currencies and stablecoins for both consumers and businesses.

The first initiative involves Citi's Virtual Account Wallet solution being used by Coinbase to power virtual accounts, enabling customers to accept, hold, and pay funds in a bank-account-like manner. Incoming fiat currency is automatically converted into stablecoins through this service.

The second initiative enables Citi's institutional clients to accept stablecoin payments through Spring by Citi, the bank's payment acceptance platform. Coinbase Payments powers the stablecoin acceptance with automatic conversion to fiat currency, and Citi settles the funds as the bank of record.

This expanded partnership is seen as a significant step in providing optionality for clients, according to Shahmir Khaliq, Head of Services at Citi. Alec Lovett, Head of Infrastructure Product at Coinbase, stated that this collaboration provides 'a fast, compliant bridge between fiat and stablecoins' that meets the needs of clients building on Coinbase.