Coinbase & Marqeta Swipe Right on Stablecoin Cards — Now Businesses Can Spend Their Bags 💳

Coinbase has expanded its partnership with Nasdaq-listed Marqeta to roll out stablecoin-backed payment cards aimed at enterprise customers, enabling cardholders to spend digital-asset balances at millions of merchants through existing card networks. The expanded collaboration, announced by Marqeta on October 16, layers stablecoin functionality onto an existing card-issuing relationship between the two companies.

Under the agreement, Coinbase will act as custodian for the underlying stablecoins and serve as counterparty that liquidates digital assets into traditional fiat currencies. Marqeta will handle card issuance, transaction processing, and the bank and payment-network relationships. The setup lets companies in both the crypto sector and traditional industries launch digital-asset payment programs without building the infrastructure themselves.

Settlement for the card programs will be processed on Coinbase's Base blockchain, the Layer-2 network operated by the exchange. Businesses using the service will be able to fund card programs on a 24/7 basis, according to both companies. Pricing, supported stablecoins, eligible geographies, and specific launch dates have not been disclosed by either Coinbase or Marqeta.

Anthony Peculic, Marqeta's chief strategy officer, said the deal is a natural next step in building out stablecoin-backed cards, noting that Coinbase supplies the infrastructure needed to support Marqeta's enterprise customers. Peculic added that demand from issuers for stablecoin-funded card programs has continued to build as more businesses look to bridge digital-asset balances with everyday payment rails.

The partnership adds another enterprise use case for stablecoins, which issuers have promoted as a faster, programmable alternative to traditional payment methods. By tying custody and liquidation to Coinbase and settlement to Base, while leaving card issuance to Marqeta, the two firms are positioning the new product as an end-to-end stack that issuers can plug into without holding the digital assets themselves.