Citi has selected Coinbase to work on client payments in stablecoins

Citigroup Bank and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase have announced a partnership to expand digital payment options for the bank's corporate clients. In the first phase, the parties will focus on making it easier to convert cryptocurrency to and from regular money, including cross-border payments for Citi's large institutional clients.

In the coming months, Citi intends to develop solutions that will allow customers to make payments in Stablecoins via blockchain, Bloomberg noted, citing the words of the bank's head of payments Debopama Xi. "Stablecoins will be another catalyst in the digital payments ecosystem - they will help expand the market and functionality for customers," she emphasized.

The issue of transferring funds between cryptocurrencies and traditional banking systems has long been a barrier for users: while cryptocurrencies trade around the clock, bank transfers through networks like ACH or SWIFT can take hours to weeks, Bloomberg explains.

The partnership between Citi and Coinbase follows Citi's launch of its own blockchain platform and was another example of major Wall Street financial institutions turning to blockchain technology after years of regulators warning about the risks of cryptoassets, the agency added.

Amid the softer stance of Donald Trump's administration, banks, brokers and fintech companies are more actively seeking partners offering spot and derivatives trading, custodial services, staking and payments solutions, said Brian Foster, head of crypto-as-a-service at Coinbase. Citi analysts expect that the steiblcoin market, currently valued at about $300 billion, could exceed $1 trillion over the next five years.

Shares of Coinbase at trading on October 27 rose at the moment by more than 5% - up to $373.2. However, by the closing of the stock exchange the rates slowed down to about 2%. Compared to the beginning of 2025, the securities rose in price by 46%.

Citigroup shares were up 2.24% on Monday. Since the beginning of the year they have added 43% in price.

Coinbase stock has 38 ratings from analysts and opinions differ, MarketWatch shows. The most popular recommendation is "buy" (16 ratings Buy and three Overweight), but with 15 analysts advising Hold and four advising Sell (one Underweight and three Sell).

Citi securities are treated more favorably: they have 16 "buy" recommendations, five "hold" recommendations and only one "sell" recommendation, MarketScreener data show.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor