Coinbase, Citi Team Up To Streamline Global Payments With Crypto, Eye Stablecoin Expansion

• Citigroup and Coinbase announced a partnership on Monday to ease crypto transactions for institutional clients.
• Citi plans to handle fiat pay-ins and pay-outs for Coinbase.
• The companies said they plan to explore stablecoin payments for cross-border transfers in the future.

Citigroup (C) announced on Monday that it’s teaming up with Coinbase (COIN) to make it easier for institutional clients, like large companies and financial firms, to move money between traditional bank accounts and cryptocurrencies. 

Coinbase’s stock rose nearly 4% in midday trade, with retail sentiment on Stocktwits continuing to trend in ‘neutral’ territory over the past day. Meanwhile, Citigroup’s stock gained 1.5% with retail sentiment remaining in ‘bearish’ territory.

‘Network Of Networks’ Approach

In the first phase, Citi will help Coinbase handle fiat pay-ins and pay-outs. This means converting regular currencies, like the dollar, into crypto and back again. The companies said this would strengthen Coinbase’s on- and off-ramp services, which are the bridges between the crypto world and the traditional financial system. 

“With more than 300 payment clearing networks across 94 markets globally, we see collaborating with Coinbase as a natural extension of our ‘network of networks’ approach, further supporting our clients to make payments as if there were no borders.” 
– Debopama Sen, Head of Payments and Services, Citigroup

The companies also plan on exploring the use of stablecoins for faster global payments in the future. They said further specific initiatives will be shared in the coming months, as the companies continue to explore options to simplify and expand access to digital asset payments for Citi’s clients.

The Stablecoin Race For Cross-Border Payments

The move comes amid a broader industry shift toward the use of stablecoins for cross-border payments. Last week, Early Warning Services, the company behind the payments network Zelle, said it plans to adopt stablecoins to enable faster, more reliable international money transfers. The firm is owned by several of the largest U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC).

Remittance firms are also in the race. Zepz, the parent company of WorldRemit and Sendwave, recently launched the Sendwave Wallet, a crypto wallet designed to enable peer-to-peer stablecoin transfers globally. MoneyGram, which rolled out its MoneyGram Wallet in 2024 using Circle’s USD Coin on the Stellar network, was among the first major remittance players to embrace the model. Western Union and Remitly have also announced stablecoin initiatives.

Read also: Ethereum Outperforms Bitcoin As Retail Sentiment Improves Ahead Of Fed Rate Decision, Trump-Xi Meeting This Week

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