Coinbase Powers Marqeta Cards After Mastercard Bought BVNK

Coinbase will custody stablecoins and convert them to fiat for Marqeta’s business customers under a card partnership announced on October 16, 2026. Marqeta will issue the cards, process payments, and keep the bank and network relationships, so a merchant still gets paid in ordinary currency.

The Oakland issuer already signed a near-copy deal on September 9 with BVNK, the stablecoin firm Mastercard bought in August. Coinbase is the second conversion stack on the same platform, not the only one.

Coinbase Holds the Coins Until the Tap

Marqeta said the new work will let its business clients offer stablecoin-backed cards for enterprise customers, including crypto firms and companies that do not run crypto rails of their own. Coinbase holds the balances and turns digital assets into fiat at the point of sale. Base, Coinbase’s blockchain, is the on-chain settlement layer. Marqeta keeps issuing, processing, and the ties to banks and card networks.

Coinbase’s developer platform account put the pitch in one line: “Stablecoins are about to get more spendable.”

Stablecoins are about to get more spendable.@coinbase and @marqeta are teaming up to bring stablecoin-backed cards to businesses. pic.twitter.com/r1KTikMjr3

— Coinbase Developer Platform🛡️ (@CoinbaseDev) October 16, 2026

A cardholder still taps or swipes at a terminal that already takes cards. The stablecoins never have to sit on the merchant’s books. Coinbase is the party that holds the tokens and sells them for the currency the network expects, which is the same conversion job it has done on its own consumer card for years.

WHO DOES WHICH JOB

Both setups leave Marqeta in the issuing seat and leave the merchant in fiat. The fight is over who sits between the token and the authorization, which is why two conversion vendors on one issuer is the part of the October 16 release that does not show up in the headline.

The $1.8 Billion Rail Marqeta Plugged In First

Mastercard agreed on March 17, 2026, to pay up to $1.8 billion for BVNK, including $300 million in contingent payments. It completed its acquisition of BVNK on August 3. Jorn Lambert, Mastercard’s chief product officer, said stablecoins were already being used for cross-border B2B payments, remittances, payouts, settlement, and treasury flows, and that BVNK’s on-chain tools would sit next to Mastercard’s network.

BVNK and Marqeta Announced Cards on September 9

Marqeta then announced stablecoin-backed cards with BVNK on September 9. The split of labor was the same shape as this week’s Coinbase note: BVNK would move and manage stablecoins, Marqeta would issue the cards and keep bank and network ties. Marqeta also pointed out that Mastercard is already one of its major network partners, so the BVNK hookup tied two Mastercard pieces together. BVNK, in that release, was described as processing more than $39 billion in annualized payment volume.

By collaborating with Mastercard and BVNK we’re enabling our customers to issue stablecoin-backed cards that work anywhere cards are accepted, without requiring merchants to change how they accept payments.

Anthony Peculic, Chief Strategy Officer, Marqeta, September 9 release

Both Rails Leave Merchants in Fiat

Peculic is also the voice on the Coinbase deal. On October 16 he called the Coinbase expansion “a natural next step” as Marqeta “build[s] out the complete stack for stablecoin-backed cards.” Read next to the September 9 text, that stack is a multi-vendor issuing layer, not a Coinbase exclusive. Marqeta’s enterprise clients can pick a conversion partner without leaving the card platform they already use.

THE TWO RAILS ON ONE ISSUER

1. March 17, 2026: Mastercard agrees to buy BVNK for up to $1.8 billion, including $300 million in contingent payments.
2. August 3, 2026: Mastercard closes the BVNK purchase.
3. September 9, 2026: BVNK and Marqeta partner on stablecoin-backed cards.
4. September 28, 2026: Coinbase and Citi expand a stablecoin payments partnership for businesses.
5. October 16, 2026: Coinbase and Marqeta expand their card work to stablecoin-backed business cards.

Coinbase still gets something real: custody, conversion, and Base settlement on programs that Marqeta’s customers may launch. It does not get a locked issuing channel. Mastercard already owns a competing conversion business and has it wired into the same issuer.

Marqeta Has Issued Coinbase Cards Since 2020

None of this starts from a cold introduction. Marqeta already issues crypto-backed cards for Coinbase, a fact both companies restated on October 16. On October 28, 2020, Coinbase opened a Coinbase Card waitlist in the US, a Visa debit product that converts crypto to dollars for purchases and ATM withdrawals. Marqeta powered that US launch. MetaBank issued the card under a Visa license.

The consumer card taught both firms the basic move: a network authorization in dollars, funded from a crypto balance Coinbase sells in the background. The new work copies that move for stablecoins and opens it to Marqeta’s other business clients, who can brand the card themselves. Coinbase becomes a supplier of custody and conversion behind someone else’s card program, which is a different commercial seat than running only its own card.

MARQETA’S 2025 SCALE

• Processing volume: Marqeta’s 2025 results put total processing volume at $383 billion.
• Annual growth: That TPV was up 31% from $291 billion in 2024.
• Footprint: The company says it is certified to operate in more than 40 countries.
• BVNK comparison: BVNK’s annualized payment volume was more than $39 billion when the September 9 card deal was announced.

Those figures are why an enterprise would put Marqeta at issuing even if it already has a Coinbase account. The card has to clear in dozens of countries, through banks Marqeta already contracted, on networks that merchants already accept. Coinbase’s job is the token side of that path.

What Round-the-Clock Card Funding Changes for Treasurers?

The operational claim in the October 16 release is that businesses will be able to fund card programs 24/7. Bank wires and many card-program top-ups still follow banking hours. A treasury that holds dollar tokens can, in this design, move value onto a card program on a Saturday or after a New York close, because Coinbase handles the asset and Base clears the chain side without a bank window.

Alec Lovett, Coinbase’s head of infrastructure products, tied that to speed rather than to a new consumer brand.

Coinbase is enabling businesses to move money with the speed and efficiency they require. Our collaboration with Marqeta will combine our stablecoin payment rails with their powerful issuing and processing capabilities to deliver real-time global transactions that meet the needs of modern consumers and businesses.

Alec Lovett, Head of Infrastructure Products, Coinbase, October 16 release

WHERE ALL-HOURS FUNDING SHOWS UP

• Weekend payouts: Contractor and driver cards can be loaded when ACH is idle.
• Time-zone spend: A team buying ads or inventory overnight does not wait for a US bank to open.
• Program ramps: A new cohort of virtual cards can be funded as soon as the tokens arrive, not on the next banking day.

That is also why the live-versus-announced gap matters. Finance teams care about 24/7 funding only if the conversion desk is actually on. Until Marqeta names a first program, the Saturday load is still a slide. People who already spend dollar tokens in markets where the terminal only takes cards already know the other half: the plastic is how those tokens reach a grocer who will never open a wallet. If machine spend follows, it will likely show up as virtual cards with tight caps on the same issuing stack, not as a new checkout button.

The Release Still Reads Like a Product Plan

Marqeta’s language is forward-looking. The companies “will enable” businesses to issue the cards. They did not name a go-live date, a first customer, or the stablecoins the programs will accept. They also did not disclose fees or the money changing hands between them.

WHAT WE KNOW

• The split: Coinbase custody, conversion, and Base settlement; Marqeta issuing, processing, banks, and networks.
• The users: Marqeta’s enterprise customers, crypto-native and not.
• The merchant path: Spend at merchants that already accept cards, with conversion in the background.

WHAT IS UNCONFIRMED

• Launch timing: No date for a live business card program.
• The tokens: No list of supported stablecoins.
• The first issuer: No named Marqeta customer that will ship a card on this stack.
• The commercial terms: No fees, revenue share, or contract length.

That blank is not a small omission. A card program still needs an issuing bank, a network license, fraud rules, and a funding coin that compliance teams will accept. Marqeta’s BVNK release leaned on Mastercard acceptance. The Coinbase release does not name Visa or Mastercard at all. Either network is possible, because Marqeta already works with both. Until a BIN and a coin are public, this remains a partnership description.

Citi Opened the Inbound Path in September

On September 28, Coinbase and Citi expanded an earlier payments partnership so businesses can move between dollars and stablecoins without a merchant holding tokens. Coinbase handles the chain side and the conversion. Citi stays the bank of record on the fiat side. That deal points inbound: a company can take a stablecoin payment and receive dollars. The Marqeta deal points outbound: a company can hold stablecoins and spend them as a card.

Put the two next to each other and Coinbase is trying to sit on both ends of a dollar-token payment, converting in and converting out, while banks and card issuers keep the regulated surfaces customers already know. Base is the settlement layer Coinbase wants under that conversion. Marqeta is the issuing layer that can also route through BVNK.

The October 16 announcement therefore does less to crown a single crypto card than to confirm Marqeta’s seat. Mastercard paid up to $1.8 billion to own one conversion rail and already has it on Marqeta. Coinbase is now on the same issuer with Base behind it. Cardholders, if and when a program launches, will still tap a card. The party that wins the volume line is the one that already processed $383 billion in 2025, whichever token stack the customer picks.

Disclaimer: This article is news reporting on a corporate partnership and is for information only. It is not investment advice, a solicitation to buy or sell Coinbase, Marqeta, or Mastercard securities, and not a recommendation to use any stablecoin, card, or payment product. Readers should consult a licensed financial adviser or payments counsel before making investment or treasury decisions. Figures, product statuses, and partnership terms reflect company statements as of the dates named above and may change before any card program goes live.