The expanded partnership keeps the client relationship and settlement with the bank and gives Coinbase bank-style accounts without a charter, a split other lenders weighing stablecoins may copy.
Citigroup and Coinbase have built one pipe that runs in two directions, with the bank holding the dollar end and the exchange holding the token end.
Citi and Coinbase said on Monday they are expanding a partnership first announced in October 2025. Spring by Citi, which handles payment acceptance for the bank's clients, will plug into Coinbase Payments so those merchants can be paid in stablecoins. Each token payment is turned into ordinary currency on arrival, with Citi acting as bank of record for the settlement. The U.S. comes first.
"Our goal is to build the next generation of payments infrastructure," said Debopama Sen, Citi's head of payments, describing a system that works across both traditional and digital payment networks.
The other direction
The second half of the deal reverses the flow. Coinbase Virtual Accounts, which give Coinbase's payments customers bank-style tools for receiving, holding and sending money, will run on Citi's Virtual Account Wallet. Dollars that arrive in those accounts become stablecoins automatically.
Taken together, the two pieces make Citi the dollar side and Coinbase the token side of the same pipe. Citi keeps the banking relationship and the settlement role. Coinbase supplies the stablecoin rails without having to become a bank.
"We are trying to make sure that we cover all aspects of their incoming and outgoing payments," said Shahmir Khaliq, Citi's head of services.
The bank push
The partnership is one of several moves by large banks this month. Earlier in September, Citi joined Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and 18 other firms in a plan to set up a jointly owned issuer of a dollar-backed stablecoin. The bank already operates Citi Token Services, a blockchain system that lets institutional clients move funds at any hour. Last week, the Federal Reserve proposed its first rules under the GENIUS Act on capital, reserves and redemption for the bank stablecoin issuers it supervises.
The companies did not say which stablecoins will be accepted, disclose financial terms or give a launch date.
Citi shares rose about 1.2% to $132.69 on Monday, and Coinbase rose about 1.8% to $191.62.
The first merchants to go live, and the stablecoins they accept, will show whether corporate clients want the option. For banks weighing their own stablecoin plans, the more relevant signal is whether Citi's model, owning the settlement and outsourcing the token rails, becomes the template.