Citi’s institutional clients can now accept stablecoin payments through Spring by Citi, using payment infrastructure provided by Coinbase.
Coinbase announced the development on Sept. 28, describing it as one of two defined uses to emerge from the companies’ earlier partnership on digital asset payments. The second allows Coinbase Virtual Accounts to convert incoming fiat currency into stablecoins automatically through Citi’s Virtual Account Wallet.
The two services address different stages of the movement between conventional money and digital assets. Spring by Citi begins with a stablecoin payment, giving Citi’s institutional payment clients a route to receive those assets. Coinbase Virtual Accounts start with a payment in a traditional currency and end with stablecoins being credited to a customer’s account.
Coinbase said its infrastructure now enables stablecoin acceptance through Spring by Citi. However, the announcement did not name a client that has processed a payment using the service, nor did it provide details of any transaction volume.
The company said Citi’s Virtual Account Wallet powers the Virtual Accounts, which provide fiat wallets capable of automatically converting incoming fiat into stablecoins. Coinbase has not publicly specified which currencies or stablecoins are eligible, leaving the precise conversion options unclear.
The announcement also does not say whether one customer can use both services. Coinbase has provided no market-by-market eligibility criteria or pricing information for either Citi-linked route in its blog summary.
Although the functions could operate alongside one another, they are designed for different purposes. Citi’s institutional clients gain a way to accept stablecoin payments, while Coinbase Virtual Account customers receive an automated process for converting fiat receipts into stablecoins.
The partnership itself predates the two named services. In October 2025, Citi said it and Coinbase planned to develop institutional digital asset payment capabilities. Their initial focus was on fiat pay-ins and pay-outs for Coinbase’s on- and off-ramps, as well as payment orchestration.
At the time, Citi said further initiatives would follow. The Sept. 28 announcement identifies two of those initiatives as customer-facing payment routes.
The stated availability of the services does not establish whether institutions are already using either option or indicate the scale of any activity. Coinbase’s summary contains no customer numbers, payment volumes or named live merchant connected to the Citi integration.
That lack of operating data makes it difficult to assess the partnership’s reach. Nevertheless, the companies have moved beyond their earlier exploratory plans and set out specific payment capabilities linking institutional banking with stablecoins.
