Citigroup and Coinbase have pushed their collaboration one step further: allowing large enterprises to directly receive stablecoins at checkout.
Here’s how the responsibilities are split. Customers pay with stablecoins; Coinbase converts the coins into U.S. dollars, while Citigroup settles the funds to merchants.
The connection works in the other direction too. Dollars received by businesses can be automatically converted into stablecoins and held in Coinbase, with an annualized return of 3.75%.
In the words of the WSJ, customer relationships stay with Citigroup, while Coinbase provides the underlying channel.
At the same time, Citigroup has expanded its tokenized settlement service to Japan and the UAE, bringing coverage to a total of seven jurisdictions.
The timing is also worth noting. The CLARITY Act has just stalled in the Senate, and Citigroup says it will move forward within the existing banking regulatory framework.
Which stablecoins are supported, as well as fees and launch timelines—none of that has been announced yet.
Will banks, rather than issuing their own stablecoins, become the mainstream approach for U.S. large banks—by routing stablecoins into the settlement networks?
Here’s how the responsibilities are split. Customers pay with stablecoins; Coinbase converts the coins into U.S. dollars, while Citigroup settles the funds to merchants.
The connection works in the other direction too. Dollars received by businesses can be automatically converted into stablecoins and held in Coinbase, with an annualized return of 3.75%.
In the words of the WSJ, customer relationships stay with Citigroup, while Coinbase provides the underlying channel.
At the same time, Citigroup has expanded its tokenized settlement service to Japan and the UAE, bringing coverage to a total of seven jurisdictions.
The timing is also worth noting. The CLARITY Act has just stalled in the Senate, and Citigroup says it will move forward within the existing banking regulatory framework.
Which stablecoins are supported, as well as fees and launch timelines—none of that has been announced yet.
Will banks, rather than issuing their own stablecoins, become the mainstream approach for U.S. large banks—by routing stablecoins into the settlement networks?