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Coinbase and Marqeta Join on Stablecoin-Backed Cards

Coinbase will custody stablecoin balances and convert them to fiat for Marqeta card programs, with settlement on Base and round-the-clock business funding.

The Aeterna Sol Editors

Coinbase and Marqeta Join on Stablecoin-Backed Cards

24/7 is how often businesses will be able to fund card programs under a new collaboration between Coinbase and Marqeta. The arrangement gives Marqeta’s enterprise customers a way to offer cards that let users spend stablecoin balances through familiar card payments.

Marqeta announced the collaboration on Oct. 16, saying it will serve crypto-native and non-crypto firms. According to Marqeta’s announcement, Coinbase will provide custody and convert stablecoins to fiat, while its Base blockchain will handle on-chain settlement. Marqeta will issue the cards, process payments and manage bank and card-network relationships.

How will the stablecoin card payments work?

Coinbase will hold the stablecoin balances and manage their conversion between digital assets and fiat currency. Base will provide the blockchain infrastructure for settlement, while Marqeta handles the card side of each program.

That division lets cardholders spend from a stablecoin balance at merchants that accept cards, without each merchant needing a new stablecoin integration. The companies said their customers will be able to fund programs around the clock and that cardholders will be able to spend at millions of merchants globally.

For you as a cardholder, the intended experience is spending from a digital-asset balance through a card. The announcement does not describe the exact timing of conversion for an individual purchase or how a particular card program will present balances and fees.

Who can offer the cards, and when?

The offering is aimed at Marqeta’s enterprise customers, including businesses inside and outside crypto. Those businesses will be able to issue cards backed by stablecoin balances; the announcement does not name any participating customers or say when programs will launch.

The companies also did not disclose which stablecoins will be supported, fees or other financial terms. The Block reported on the announcement and noted that those details were not specified. So the news confirms a new payment capability, but not a consumer card you can sign up for today.

What changes in the Coinbase–Marqeta relationship?

The companies already work together on Coinbase’s card, and this collaboration expands that relationship to stablecoin-backed programs for Marqeta customers. The Block reported that Marqeta was named processor for Coinbase’s U.S. debit card in October 2020.

The new arrangement spreads the work across three parts: Coinbase supplies custody and conversion, Base supports on-chain settlement, and Marqeta connects the program to card payments. Marqeta says businesses can turn stablecoin balances into everyday spending through this setup. Whether and how quickly customers adopt it will depend on the programs businesses build; neither company announced launch numbers or projected usage.

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