Marqeta’s business customers can now issue payment cards that spend their users’ stablecoin balances at any merchant that takes cards. Coinbase handles custody and conversion, and settlement runs on Base.
Marqeta and Coinbase announced the expanded partnership in a press release on 16 October.
Under the arrangement, businesses that use Marqeta to run their card programs can let customers pay with stablecoins. The cardholder spends from a stablecoin balance, and the merchant is paid through normal card rails.
How the cards work
Each company handles a different part of the transaction:
- Coinbase holds the stablecoins in custody and converts between digital assets and traditional currency.
- Marqeta issues the cards and processes payments. It also manages relationships with banks and card networks.
- Base, Coinbase’s blockchain, provides the onchain settlement infrastructure.
- Businesses can fund their card programs 24/7, according to The Block.
Cardholders can spend at “millions of merchants” that accept cards.
The program is open to Marqeta’s enterprise customers, which include both crypto companies and traditional businesses.
What the companies said
Anthony Peculic, Marqeta’s Chief Strategy Officer, said: “Coinbase brings scale and breadth of infrastructure to provide for the needs of our enterprise customers.”
Alec Lovett, Head of Infrastructure Products at Coinbase, said: “Coinbase is enabling businesses to move money with the speed and efficiency they require.”
Marqeta CEO Mike Milotich described the company’s approach on an August earnings call. “Our strategy here is straightforward,” he said, adding that the aim is “to make digital dollars spendable through the same trusted card rails.”
A six-year partnership
The deal builds on a relationship that started in October 2020, when Marqeta became the processor for Coinbase’s US debit card. That card let customers spend crypto, including USDC, and earn crypto rewards.
The new arrangement opens the same kind of setup to any Marqeta business customer, instead of a single Coinbase-branded card.
Coinbase’s push into stablecoin payments
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has called stablecoin payments a key revenue driver for the company. In a September interview with Bloomberg Television, he said: “That’s going to be a very big growth industry.” He added: “Payment volume can be a very interesting business for us.”
Earlier this month, Samsung named Coinbase as sub-custodian for USDC in Samsung Wallet’s new US stablecoin transfer feature, which launches in the last week of October.
What hasn’t been announced
Marqeta and Coinbase haven’t shared a launch date for the first stablecoin-backed card programs. They also haven’t said which stablecoins will be supported at launch or what fees will apply. The regions covered haven’t been disclosed either.
