Coinbase's Business Platform Expansion: Unlocking Global USDC Payouts and Payment Links

Coinbase has rolled out global USDC payouts and instant payment links on its Coinbase Business platform, expanding its cross-border payment offerings. The move comes amidst a busy year for the company, with a 1-year total shareholder return of 57% and a 406% return over three years. Analysts believe the new features could fundamentally expand Coinbase's addressable market, leading to significant upside for revenue and profits. The most widely followed narrative suggests Coinbase is undervalued by 10.3%, with potential upside as analyst projections get more bullish despite ongoing volatility.

Coinbase has recently rolled out global USDC payouts and instant payment links on its Coinbase Business platform, significantly expanding its cross-border payment offerings. The move comes amidst a busy year for the company, with a 1-year total shareholder return of 57% and a 406% return over three years. Analysts believe the new features could fundamentally expand Coinbase's addressable market, leading to significant upside for revenue and profits. The most widely followed narrative suggests Coinbase is undervalued by 10.3%, with potential upside as analyst projections get more bullish despite ongoing volatility.

The introduction of USDC-based payment tools on Coinbase Business platform includes Global Payouts and Payment Links, allowing companies to transfer USDC instantly to any on-chain address or email with low fees and no chargebacks. This suite is a combination of Coinbase Business and Commerce, enabling automated payments through the Payouts API, similar to emailing money. The project aims to make blockchain-based payments as convenient as traditional systems, allowing businesses to serve global audiences without intermediaries.

The new features are expected to save businesses up to 80% in fees compared to old systems, and immediate cash-outs can improve cash flow. This move positions USDC as a part of real-world businesses, transforming it from a trading pair into a payment railroad, as one industry observer commented.

Coinbase's expansion into USDC-based payments is part of a broader trend of stablecoins gaining importance as a means of payment and in DeFi. The USD Coin (USDC), the most popular regulated stablecoin, hit a new milestone on October 17, 2025, with its circulation rising to $76.1 billion, a 40.4% increase from the beginning of the year. The transparency and stability of USDC remain the subject of institutional interest, even amid new regulatory proposals.

The issuer of USDC, Circle, has also announced a significant collaboration with Safe, a secure storage platform for institutional assets. This partnership offers scalable, regulated infrastructure to big customers, securing more than $2.5 billion in USDC funds and exceeding a trillion dollars in volume. Regulatory clarity has led to institutional USDC usage on Safe increasing by a factor of four over the last 18 months.

The USDC Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP V2), upgraded in June 2025, supports frictionless liquidity in over 10 blockchains, improving interoperability and minimizing vulnerabilities of bridges. The next Circle Gateway Mainnet, expected in Q4 2025, will consolidate balances to achieve instant cross-chain access, further entrenching USDC's usage in DeFi.

These advancements, along with integrations with Visa and Ant Group, are pushing the on-chain volume of USDC to new highs. Billions of transactions have been completed by nonprofits and DAOs in USDC, and more than 87 million distinct wallets are active in the global economy using the stablecoin.

Despite challenges such as temporary holding thresholds proposed by the Bank of England and profitability risks, proactive measures such as MiCA licensing in France and the April 2025 statement by the SEC on the status of USDC as a non-security covered stablecoin have provided confidence. USDC's focus on liquidity and security ensures its future dominance in the stablecoin market.