Citigroup and Coinbase have announced a service that automatically converts stablecoins into dollars, and dollars into stablecoins, for institutional clients in the United States.

How the service works

Announced on September 29, the service lets a Citi business client accept payment in a stablecoin, such as USDC, without ever holding crypto. Coinbase converts the stablecoins into dollars behind the scenes, and Citi deposits the money like any other payment. The flow also runs the other way: companies building on Coinbase can open accounts that behave like bank accounts, powered by Citi’s banking software, where incoming dollars are turned into stablecoins automatically.

Citi and Coinbase framed the service as a way to fold stablecoin payments into traditional banking rather than run them as a separate crypto workflow. Coinbase said more than 150 million people worldwide hold stablecoins, a company figure, and the deal gives businesses a way to accept money from them without joining the crypto side.

The companies have not disclosed which stablecoins the service supports beyond the USDC example, when it launched, or which clients use it, and the service has been announced for the United States only.