Citigroup, one of Wall Street’s leading institutions, has announced a strategic partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to develop new stablecoin solutions aimed at institutional and corporate investors as part of Citi’s initiative to leverage blockchain technology for financial transactions.
Citi’s ‘network of networks’ approach
According to the advertisementThe initial phase of this partnership will focus on facilitating payments and trust payments. This aims to improve Coinbase’s on- and off-ramps (essentially the bridges between traditional fiat currencies and digital asset ecosystems) as well as improve payments orchestration.
More details on specific initiatives, including exploring alternative methods to convert fiat to chain stablecoin paymentsThey are expected to be revealed in the coming months.
However, the goal, according to both parties, is to provide Citi clients with smoother transitions and 24/7 accessibility. Debopama Sen, Head of Payments Services at Citi, said:
The financial landscape is changing rapidly and we are excited to partner with Coinbase to explore new payment options for our global customers. With over 300 payment clearing networks in 94 markets, collaborating with Coinbase is a natural extension of our “network of networks” approach, allowing our customers to make payments as if borders do not exist.
Coinbase becomes the go-to partner for financial institutions
This partnership further builds on Citigroup’s efforts to develop payment solutions, which also include offerings such as Citi Token Services and 24/7 USD Clearing, providing ongoing, real-time support for institutional clients.
Coinbase, on the other hand, has become a preferred partner for traditional financial institutions, beyond Citi, looking to dip their toes into digital asset technology. To a similar extent, PNC Bank announced In July, its collaboration with Coinbase to provide crypto trading options to its customers.
Using Coinbase’s “crypto-as-a-service” institutional platform, PNC aims to allow customers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies, while also offering certain banking services through Coinbase.
“Partnering with Coinbase accelerates our ability to deliver innovative crypto-financial solutions to our customers,” said William Demchak, CEO of PNC. “This collaboration meets the growing demand for secure and streamlined access to digital assets on PNC’s trusted platform.”
This development comes amid significant changes in cryptocurrency regulation in the US under President Donald Trump, which aims to position the United States as the “crypto capital of the world.”
This regulatory environment is encouraging greater integration between traditional finance and the cryptocurrency industry, further driven by the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) rapid shift in focus towards cryptocurrencies, which included removing its execution cases against the exchange earlier this year.
In line with the broader market recovery, shares of the exchange, which trade under the symbol COIN, are trading at $369.88, an increase of nearly 4% from Monday’s trading session.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
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