Citi Taps Coinbase in Push to Modernize Institutional Payments With Digital Assets

Citi and Coinbase plan to develop digital asset payment capabilities for institutional clients, a move that brings Wall Street plumbing closer to on-chain ￰0￱ collaboration will focus first on making it easier to move between fiat and crypto, then broaden into payments orchestration for always-on ￰1￱ initial work targets fiat pay-ins and pay-outs for Coinbase’s on and off-ramps, an area that has long frustrated institutions that trade round the clock but fund through rails that do ￰2￱ firms said they will share details on specific initiatives in the coming months, including options that could create alternative fiat-to- stablecoin payout methods.

We’re collaborating with @Citi to build the future of payments. →Exploring making it easier for Citi clients to use digital assets →Unlocking the power of stablecoins for payments →Improving on and off-ramps Time to make digital assets an integral part of the global ￰3￱ — Coinbase (@coinbase) October 27, 2025 Citi Bets on Stablecoins to Boost Efficiency Across Institutional Payment Systems Citi framed the partnership as an extension of its network strategy. “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,” said Debopama Sen, who leads payments and services at ￰4￱ said clients want payments that feel borderless and run 24 hours a ￰5￱ cast the tie-up as infrastructure work for the next wave of finance.

“Citi’s global network and expertise in payments make them an ideal partner as we work to advance digital asset capabilities,” said Brian Foster, global head of Crypto as a Service at ￰6￱ said the goal is to simplify and expand access to digital asset payments for ￰7￱ collaboration lands as stablecoins gain traction in corporate ￰8￱ said clients are asking for programmability, conditional payments and lower costs alongside speed and ￰9￱ added that the bank is exploring solutions to enable on-chain stablecoin payments, calling stablecoins an enabler that can grow functionality for ￰10￱ the Funding Lag Between Crypto and Traditional Banking For crypto users, the pain point is ￰11￱ is instant, but funding often is ￰12￱ over ACH and wires can take hours or days, which introduces reconciliation risk and working-capital drag.

A cleaner bridge between fiat accounts and tokenized dollars could reduce breaks, cut fees, and narrow the gap between trade execution and cash settlement. Citi’s move builds on its recent product ￰13￱ bank has rolled out Citi Token Services and 24/7 USD Clearing for institutional clients and it maintains coverage across the top e-commerce ￰14￱ says the bank serves 90% of the largest e-commerce companies and most of the world’s top fintechs, which gives distribution for new payment options. Citi-Coinbase Collaboration Seen as Blueprint for Mainstream Stablecoin Infrastructure For Coinbase, deeper bank connectivity helps convert crypto demand into payment ￰15￱ on and off-ramps can lower friction for treasurers and compliance teams, while predictable orchestration can support cross-border use ￰16￱ stablecoin payouts come online, they could provide near-instant settlement with clearer audit trails than legacy ￰17￱ stakes are rising as stablecoins and tokenized deposits compete to anchor digital ￰18￱ issuers have pushed for bank-grade custody, real-time attestations, and integration with compliance tooling.

A bank-exchange partnership that standardizes funding and settlement could hasten institutional adoption without forcing firms to rebuild core systems.