Marqeta Coinbase stablecoin cards target enterprise issuers

Marqeta Coinbase stablecoin cards are the latest sign that dollar tokens are being wired into everyday card rails rather than sitting on exchanges. Card-issuing platform Marqeta said on Friday it is expanding its relationship with Coinbase so its enterprise customers can offer cards funded by users' stablecoin balances. Coinbase will provide the crypto infrastructure behind the cards.

What happened

Under the arrangement described in the companies' press release, Coinbase will hold the stablecoin balances and manage conversion between digital assets and fiat. Base, Coinbase's blockchain, will handle onchain settlement. Marqeta will issue the cards, process payments and manage the bank and card-network relationships.

Businesses will be able to fund their card programs 24 hours a day, and cardholders will be able to spend from a stablecoin balance at the millions of merchants that accept cards globally, the companies said. The service is aimed at both crypto-native and traditional firms.

The two are not strangers. Marqeta already issues Coinbase's crypto-backed cards, and The Block noted that Coinbase named Marqeta as the processor for its U.S. debit card back in October 2020, describing the new deal as an expansion of a six-year partnership. The release did not specify fees, a rollout date or which stablecoins would be supported first, The Block said.

Why it matters

Distribution is the prize. Marqeta said it processed nearly $400 billion of annual payments volume in 2025 and is certified to operate in more than 40 countries. If even a slice of that client base adds a stablecoin-funded option, Base gains a steady flow of settlement activity tied to real-world spending rather than trading.

For Coinbase, the deal fits a push to sell infrastructure, not just trading. Alec Lovett, head of infrastructure products, said the collaboration combines Coinbase's stablecoin payment rails with Marqeta's issuing and processing. Marqeta chief strategy officer Anthony Peculic called it "a natural next step" as the company builds out the stack for stablecoin-backed cards.

Card networks are racing in the same direction. Marqeta Coinbase stablecoin cards follow Mastercard's Global Money Platform with BVNK and Coinbase's earlier stablecoin payments work with Citi, while Visa this week moved USDC prefunding for Visa Direct into production.

What's next

The missing details will decide how competitive the product is: which tokens are supported, what conversion spreads look like, and in which countries enterprise clients can launch. Those terms were absent from Friday's announcement. Marqeta framed the deal as part of delivering stablecoin-backed cards "through an ecosystem of partners," which suggests Coinbase may not be its only infrastructure provider. Coinbase, for its part, pitched itself in the release as building an "everything exchange" spanning crypto, equities, derivatives and prediction markets.

Watch for the first named Marqeta clients to launch Marqeta Coinbase stablecoin cards, and for how regulators treat stablecoin-funded cards once the GENIUS Act's rules take effect.