Coinbase and Gennius plan ONED USD stablecoin access through Latin American banks

Coinbase wants to get into Latin American banking. It is not opening branches. It is borrowing someone else’s.

On October 8, 2026, Coinbase announced a partnership with fintech firm Gennius (Gennius XYZ) to bring the ONED USD stablecoin and a bundle of digital asset services to banks across Latin America. Argentina comes first. Other Latin American and Caribbean markets are planned to follow.

The pitch to banks is simple. Add stablecoin payments, custody, trading and loyalty rewards to your existing app without rebuilding your tech stack. For customers, the program would let them turn eligible deposits into a dollar-pegged token, move it at any hour and spend it with a Visa card.

How the ONED USD program is supposed to work

ONED USD launched in mid-2026. Each token is issued 1:1 against USDC held in Coinbase custody.

Under the plan, bank customers could convert eligible deposits into ONED USD. They could also convert loyalty rewards, which is the more unusual part. Points that normally sit unused in an airline or card program could become a spendable digital dollar.

Once converted, the funds could be transferred instantly, around the clock. Spending would run through Visa cards issued by the participating bank.

Gennius would serve as program manager. That means it handles the plumbing between the bank’s existing systems and Coinbase’s issuance and custody infrastructure. Banks do not have to overhaul core systems to offer the product.

Who Gennius is, and why Coinbase picked it

Gennius was founded in 2013 and reformed in 2022. It built its business on unifying payments and loyalty systems for financial institutions.

The distribution numbers explain the deal. Gennius works with more than 85 financial institutions. It also runs more than 520 loyalty programs worldwide.

It also has existing relationships with Visa and Mastercard.

Coinbase brings the regulated custody, the issuance infrastructure and the USDC backing. Gennius brings the bank relationships and the loyalty data.

The Argentina question

Starting in Argentina is a pointed choice. Coinbase has run into previous challenges in the country tied to local currency services.

This time, the approach is different. Rather than going directly to consumers, Coinbase is routing through banks that already hold customer relationships and local deposits. The bank owns the front door. Coinbase sits in the back office.

Banks already handle compliance, onboarding and local currency rails. Coinbase avoids building a consumer-facing local currency business from scratch in a market where that has been difficult before.

What this means for Coinbase, banks and stablecoins

The most important signal here is strategic. Coinbase is pushing to embed itself inside traditional banking infrastructure instead of leaning only on exchange activity.

For USDC, the setup is quietly significant. Every ONED USD in circulation is backed by USDC in Coinbase custody. More ONED USD issued through Latin American banks would mean more USDC locked up as reserves.

For banks, the appeal is defensive as much as offensive. Customers who want digital dollars can already find them outside the banking system. A white-label stablecoin product lets a bank keep those customers, and their deposits, inside its own ecosystem while still offering instant, around-the-clock access.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Kaye Quema. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.