Coinbase is teaming up with financial services provider Moov to widen community banks’ and credit unions’ access to stablecoin tools — including acceptance, settlement and real-time funding — days before the U.S. Senate holds a pivotal preliminary vote on crypto legislation.
The partnership, shared exclusively with CNBC, lands as the Senate prepares to take up the Clarity Act next Tuesday. The bill would establish a first-of-its-kind regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. It has sat in Senate limbo for months.
What the deal covers
Under the arrangement, Coinbase supplies the digital asset infrastructure, while Moov links that infrastructure into the payment systems financial institutions and their customers already rely on. The goal is to deliver stablecoin capabilities and payment rails directly to community banks.
Moov already serves more than 1,000 community banks and credit unions across the U.S., according to a press release announcing the partnership, connecting them to card acquiring and issuing along with real-time payment rails.
Ryan VanGrack, Coinbase’s vice chair and head of corporate affairs, framed the move as a response to demand that has been building for years. “Community banks and credit unions have witnessed their customers use digital assets for years,” he said. “Through our partnership with Moov, Coinbase is delivering the regulated infrastructure they need to offer these services directly — embedded right into their existing systems.”
Wade Arnold, co-founder and CEO of Moov, said business customers of community institutions are already being asked to accept stablecoins — and are currently going outside their bank to do it. “We built this so the answer comes from their primary FI instead,” he said. Arnold added that merchants need acceptance and disbursement now, while the larger opportunity lies in “funding that doesn’t stop for weekends or holidays, because the rail doesn’t close.” Institutions that adopt the capability now, he said, will be positioned for both.
Jill Castilla, chairman, president and CEO of Oklahoma-based Citizens Bank of Edmond, said in a statement that the bank’s small business customers are looking for ways to lower interchange costs and get paid faster. A correction issued with the story noted that Citizens Bank is not a Moov customer.
A bid to bridge a divide
The timing is pointed. Coinbase and other corners of the crypto industry have lobbied hard for the Senate to pass the Clarity Act, but the bill has drawn opposition from banks. Lenders object to interest-like rewards offered on crypto exchanges, warning they could trigger deposit flight from community banks and credit unions. The Independent Community Bankers of America, the trade group representing community banks, has joined a broader coalition of banking groups opposing the Clarity Act — including its latest version — over stablecoin yield concerns.
The Coinbase-Moov partnership may help narrow that gap by giving community institutions a direct route into stablecoin services rather than forcing their customers to seek them elsewhere.
Vote math remains uncertain
The Clarity Act’s path on the Senate floor is far from assured. The bill needs at least 60 votes to advance, and it is unclear whether it currently has that support. Democrats have raised concerns about proposed ethics language they say falls short of preventing public officials from profiting from crypto. Some Republicans, meanwhile, are wary of the bill’s potential effects on community banks.
Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/10/coinbase-clarity-moov-banks-stablecoin.html
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