SoFi Becomes First National Bank to Offer Crypto Trading: Here’s What to Expect
SoFi began rolling out cryptocurrency trading to its customers last week as the fintech bank became the first nationally chartered bank to offer the service.
The launch may provide a preview of what’s to come in 2026, when several other banks are expected to follow with digital asset offerings of their own. It will also test whether there’s an untapped market of potential crypto investors who have shied away from cryptocurrency exchanges but might be more comfortable trading through a bank.
“Today marks a pivotal moment when banking meets crypto in one app, on a trusted platform, and driven by our core mission to help our members get their money right,” Anthony Noto, CEO of SoFi, said in a statement.
The service, called SoFi Crypto, will be gradually rolled out to select SoFi customers, with all of the bank’s 12.6 million customers expected to get access to it by the end of the year. A SoFi spokesperson says the phased rollout is intended “to ensure a smooth experience for our members from Day One.”
Interest in the new product has been high in the week since launch. “We’re seeing strong enthusiasm from members for our crypto offering,” the spokesperson says.
This isn’t the first time SoFi has offered crypto trading. The company previously offered it for several years before halting the service in 2023 as a condition to gain federal approval for its national banking license.
Banks have been exploring getting more involved with digital assets since the crypto-friendly Trump administration began in January. In May, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released updated guidance that allowed banks to buy and sell digital assets. Soon after, several banks started revealing their crypto trading plans.
PNC Bank announced in July that it would be partnering with the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to offer crypto trading to its retail banking customers, and Morgan Stanley plans to launch crypto trading on its E-Trade platform in 2026. Other major U.S. banks are exploring creating their own stablecoins. At the same time, some major crypto firms have applied for bank charters of their own.
Experts say SoFi’s launch of crypto trading marks a key moment in banking’s evolution.
“This is very significant,” says Felix Shipkevich, a payments regulatory attorney and special professor of law at Hofstra University. “I think it’s a major milestone in American finance and something that has been quite long overdue.”
The addition of crypto trading marks the next step in SoFi’s meteoric rise since starting in 2011 as a peer-to-peer lending platform. The bank now offers one of the widest ranges of products and services available, from deposit accounts to investing to a dizzying amount of loan options. The fintech bank refers to itself as a “one-stop shop for financial services.”
“Their whole identity is wrapped up around being a cutting-edge, tech-driven fintech financial institution,” says Michael Imerman, an assistant professor of teaching in the finance area at the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine, and co-author of the book “The Economics of FinTech.” “I think (adding crypto trading) is consistent with that.”
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What to Know About SoFi Crypto
Those interested in trading digital assets through SoFi Crypto can join a waitlist on the bank’s app or website. You’ll get an email notifying you when you can open an account and begin buying, selling and holding cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ethereum and solana.
Customers must open SoFi checking and savings accounts to be eligible to open a crypto account. You can then directly buy cryptocurrencies using funds from your checking or savings account. Digital assets are held in a separate account alongside your other SoFi accounts, although they aren’t protected by federal insurance. However, money held in your SoFi checking and savings accounts is federally insured and earns interest.
SoFi charges a 1% fee on crypto trades, but the bank doesn’t charge monthly maintenance fees on the account.
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Will This Bring More People Into Crypto?
SoFi says its crypto trading platform is designed for both first-time cryptocurrency traders as well as investors experienced with buying and selling digital assets. However, the bank likely sees a major opportunity to appeal to beginners, and it plans to include educational tools and guidance within its app and on its website to help new traders get familiar with cryptocurrencies. The bank is also touting its “institutional-level security” as a selling point to ease potential concerns of hesitant investors.
“Ownership of crypto assets and interest in ownership is at all-time high, but people are looking for safer, regulated access,” says a SoFi spokesperson. “SoFi is in a unique position to deliver on this demand and become the trusted entry point for people who want to explore crypto responsibly.”
Whether SoFi manages to tap into a market of first-timers remains to be seen, although there’s no shortage of Americans who’ve never dabbled in cryptocurrency.
Only 14% of U.S. households own cryptocurrency, according to a Gallup Panel survey conducted in June. Additionally, 64% of survey respondents say they don’t have interest in ever owning digital assets. Not surprisingly, digital assets are more popular among those who own other investments. Among investors, 27% say they currently hold cryptocurrency as part of their portfolio, according to survey data from BlackRock’s People & Money report that was released this month.
One hurdle SoFi is eliminating is the need to open a separate account on a crypto exchange. Shipkevich says he believes removing that friction could be a big factor in more average Americans getting involved in cryptocurrencies.
“That’s a lot of work,” says Shipkevich. “Now it’s going to be quite seamless.”
SoFi says a survey it conducted showed that 60% of SoFi customers who own crypto would prefer to buy, sell and hold their assets with a licensed bank over their primary crypto exchange.
“SoFi has become a household name, and with that they have developed a sense of trust,” says Imerman. “I do think that people would feel more comfortable holding crypto alongside their CDs and their brokerage account and their mortgage.”
However, he cautions new traders to make sure they understand the risks of digital assets. An asset’s value can rise and fall with extreme volatility, and he worries some customers might not realize that crypto deposits aren’t federally insured the way traditional bank deposit accounts are.
“It may indeed entice people to take on more risk than they realize they’re taking on because they’re doing it through a platform that they already trust and that they associate with traditional financial products,” Imerman says.
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SoFi Becomes First National Bank to Offer Crypto Trading: Here’s What to Expect originally appeared on usnews.com