Citigroup will collaborate with Coinbase to pilot stablecoin-based payment capabilities for corporate clients, targeting cross-border payouts and on-chain settlement.

If commercialized, treasurers could move funds 24/7 with near-instant settlement and potentially lower fees than correspondent banking, while retaining KYC/AML controls via a bank front end and Coinbase’s infrastructure. The tie-up aligns with Citi Token Services’ move toward 24/7 USD clearing for real-time cross-border payments and mirrors JPMorgan’s Kinexys expansion of on-chain payments and FX settlement for corporates.

Separately, Coinbase has expanded Business payout tools for USDC, offering APIs for global disbursements and gasless receipts on Base, plumbing Citi can leverage without rebuilding core rails. Net-net, large banks are converging on crypto-native stablecoin rails to deliver programmable money at scale, with EU MiCA providing guardrails and U.S. policy still evolving.