In brief
Financial services giant SoFi is bringing Bitcoin and Ethereum trading back to its users.
The firm once allowed users to buy and sell crypto, but stopped in 2023.
The trading rollout is expected later this year, with stablecoin support, crypto-backed loans, and more ahead.
San Francisco-based financial services company SoFi will make its return to crypto later this year, offering its users the ability to trade and hold popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, the firm announced on Wednesday.
SoFi previously offered the capability to buy and sell crypto, and even acquired the notoriously difficult-to-obtain New York BitLicense in 2019—but the firm stopped offering crypto services in 2023 after “careful consideration.”
The firm also mentioned plans to offer customers stablecoins in the future, along with crypto staking features, borrowing against their crypto holdings, and other services.
“The future of financial services is being completely reinvented through innovations in crypto, digital assets, and blockchain more broadly,” said SoFi CEO Anthony Noto in a statement.
“Crypto and blockchain innovations can and will be threaded through each of our businesses and capabilities, including buying, paying, saving, investing, borrowing, and protecting,” he added. “And in doing so, we will continue to stand alone in offering our members unmatched products and services as the only digital one-stop shop for their financial needs.”
The firm’s intentions to re-enter the crypto market shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the move was outlined by Noto during a January earnings call.
During that call, Noto leaned on the need for crypto regulations, highlighting that his firm would be “aggressive” once further clarity was provided.
One such example outlined in the firm’s Wednesday announcement is the ability for nationally chartered banks, like SoFi Bank, N.A., to custody crypto and execute services on their behalf.
In May, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued an interpretive letter permitting national banks to do so, signaling a broader alignment with easing regulations against crypto policies and companies that President Trump’s administration has ushered in.
In addition to re-enabling crypto trading and custody, the firm says it has “many planned crypto and blockchain innovations” it intends to roll out through its “one-stop shop” of financial services.
Shares of SoFi Technologies (SOFI) are up about 0.7% today to $15.96, with the price up about 13% so far this year.
SoFi did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
Daily Debrief Newsletter
Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
