Marqeta and Coinbase have expanded their collaboration to let crypto-native and traditional businesses offer stablecoin-backed payment cards, according to a Marqeta announcement dated October 16, 2026.
Coinbase’s role will cover custody of stablecoin balances and conversion between digital assets and fiat. Base will provide the on-chain settlement layer, while Marqeta will provide card issuance and payment processing.
The setup is intended for enterprise card programmes, not the immediate launch of a single consumer card, and brings custody, conversion, settlement and card-payment functions together with connections to banking and card-payment rails.
Coinbase custody and Base settlement
Coinbase will custody stablecoin balances and manage conversion between digital assets and fiat, while Base will provide the on-chain settlement layer, Marqeta said.
For a stablecoin -backed card programme, custody and conversion are central operational components: card payments must work through infrastructure designed around fiat transactions even when a customer balance is held in a digital asset.
Marqeta connects card programmes to payment rails
Marqeta will provide card issuance and payment processing, and manage relationships with banks and card networks, according to The Block . Its enterprise customers will be able to fund card programmes around the clock and allow cardholders to spend with merchants that accept cards globally.
The allocation of responsibilities gives businesses a route to deploy a card product without separately assembling the issuing, processing, bank and network relationships required for conventional card acceptance. Coinbase, meanwhile, supplies the digital-asset components that support the stablecoin-backed proposition.
The announcement does not identify the banks or card networks involved. It also does not specify the countries in which individual enterprise customers could offer cards, despite the stated global merchant-acceptance proposition.
An expanded Coinbase debit-card relationship
The collaboration extends a six-year relationship between the companies. Marqeta previously served as processor for Coinbase’s U.S. debit-card offering , which was first announced in October 2020, The Block reported.
That earlier relationship provides the clearest operational precedent for the expansion, but the new announcement describes a capability Marqeta can make available to enterprise customers rather than simply an update to Coinbase’s own U.S. debit-card product.
The distinction matters because the partners are positioning the arrangement as infrastructure for other businesses. In practical terms, Marqeta is contributing the card-programme layer it has already provided to Coinbase, while Coinbase adds custody, conversion and Base settlement services for stablecoin-backed programmes.
Stablecoins and launch timing undisclosed
No supported stablecoins, financial terms or specific launch timetable have been disclosed, according to Investing.com .
What the announcement sets out is an enterprise arrangement, not a universally available consumer card. It does not include a consumer availability date or a confirmed list of assets for cardholders or programme operators.
Under the proposed structure, Coinbase will custody stablecoin balances and manage conversion, Base will provide on-chain settlement infrastructure, and Marqeta will handle card issuance and payment processing.
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