At first glance, looks like another partnership between a bank and a crypto company, but the mechanics are more interesting than that. Citi is effectively providing the regulated banking layer, while Coinbase provides the stablecoin and onchain infrastructure. Businesses can interact with both without having to build and operate two separate financial systems themselves. On one side, Coinbase is using Citi’s banking infrastructure to give businesses something that behaves much more like a traditional bank account, while stablecoins sit underneath the hood. The goal? Making the fiat <> stablecoin experience largely invisible to the end user. We’ve been seeing the payments conversation being built for years. What feels different now is the pace of integration between traditional financial infrastructure and digital asset infrastructure 🚀

As we noted in the @areta_io Payments Snapshot, stablecoins are moving from being mainly a crypto trading tool to becoming part of the broader payments stack. $CRCL reported $701M in Q2 revenue and reserve income, with USDC circulation reaching $73.3B, up 19% YoY. On-chain transaction volume was even stronger, reaching $14.8T, up 151% YoY. The market is starting to reflect this growth too, with CRCL up ~30% over the past month, while regulatory clarity around stablecoins continues to improve. Circle also received its OCC national trust bank charter, further strengthening its position as regulated payments infrastructure.

Are tokens dead? Well, earlier this week, the SEC proposed “Regulation Crypto Assets,” outlining a more defined framework for certain token-based fundraising in the US. This could give projects a clearer path to raise from the public to fund development, unlike before, with proposed exemptions of up to $5m and, under a larger framework with more requirements, up to $75m over 12 months. In simple terms: raise to build → build what you said you would → potentially move beyond the investment-contract framework. Don't get me wrong - it doesn’t mean every startup should issue a token again. In many cases, equity is still the more suitable instrument. It's actually a very positive development that we left the times of "let's just launch a token" behind us. Today, teams really have to think twice about going down the token route! On the regulatory side, it’s encouraging to see this come out: the question is no longer simply whether the offering of a token should be allowed, but how the rules should work when a token is actually part of building and operating a network.

We’ve been talking about payment rails for a long time, and in this week's Stablecoin Payments newsletter, we cover what this shift means for banks, financial institutions, and businesses. As @chrismaurice put it: banks are emerging as the next distribution channel. The opportunity isn’t just about modernising payments, but about connecting banks to stablecoin rails and using that infrastructure to extend dollar access to businesses that traditional correspondent banking has left behind. On that note - many congrats again on the recent $40m raise, Chris and the @yellowcard_app team!

What a headline - @citsecurities invested $400 million in @cryptocom , marking the exchange's first institutional fundraising round in more than a decade. For a firm like Citadel Securities, an equity investment is rarely just about financial exposure. It is tied to a broader commercial or strategic objective. Crypto.com has one of the largest retail franchises in crypto, while Citadel specializes in providing liquidity. When you pair that distribution with trading, payments, cards, and prediction markets operating on its own CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange, the strategic rationale becomes pretty clear. Citadel has been building relationships across exchanges, payments, stablecoins, and tokenization infrastructure rather than making isolated bets. They are positioning across the key layers of the future market structure. It's exciting for the entire space to monitor this!

One of the central themes in our latest Payments Insights newsletter is that stablecoins alone won't define the future of cross-border payments. Instead, the frontrunners will be those combining stablecoin settlement with regulated local infrastructure, compliance, custody, liquidity, and distribution. Some of our key takeaways: - Stablecoins are being integrated into the existing payments stack, not replacing it. - Regulated distribution is becoming the key competitive advantage, with banks, PSPs, and licensed financial institutions leading adoption. - OpenUSD highlights the industry's shift from competing on issuance to competing on distribution and settlement. - The build vs. buy vs. partner decisions are being made now and the window of opportunity to build alliances is short. As @bebrites from @tracefinance shared, it's a timely observation that reinforces a broader trend: winning in cross-border payments is becoming less about the asset itself and more about the infrastructure around it. Drop your email in the comments to join the Areta Insights newsletter and receive our latest market insights directly in your inbox.