Coinbase, Citi Expand Deal to Let Citi Clients Take Stablecoin Payments

This is a notable convergence of traditional banking rails and stablecoin settlement, with the bank acting as a wrapper so its institutional clients never touch crypto directly. It signals that stablecoin payment demand is being driven by large, regulated counterparties rather than crypto-native firms, and it positions Coinbase as infrastructure behind a bank's client base rather than a consumer-facing endpoint. The open question is whether this model spreads to other banks, which would make stablecoin settlement a standard institutional offering rather than a niche arrangement.