SoFi and Kraken have formed a new partnership that connects banking services, U.S. dollar settlement, stablecoins, and crypto trading. The deal gives Kraken access to SoFi's financial network, while SoFi gains an additional source of crypto liquidity for customer trades. The agreement links two firms that are both expanding their roles across digital finance.

The arrangement also gives both companies a wider position in digital finance at a time when banks, fintechs, and crypto platforms are competing to combine payments, trading, and settlement services under a single platform. Crypto markets trade continuously, every hour of every day, while traditional U.S. banking operates on scheduled windows, a mismatch that has historically created settlement friction for trading firms and is a key reason dollar-transfer networks with extended availability have become valuable infrastructure for the sector.

SoFi Opens Banking Network to Kraken

Payward, Kraken's parent company, will join the SoFi Exchange Network, known as SEN. The network will let Kraken's institutional clients move U.S. dollars and manage liquidity at any time, including outside normal banking hours.

SoFi designed SEN to support faster dollar transfers for companies that operate around the clock. The service gives businesses another way to settle funds without waiting for standard bank schedules. With the agreement, Kraken can now connect its institutional activity directly with those banking rails. For a crypto exchange, dependable round-the-clock dollar movement is a core operational requirement, since trading desks need to fund accounts and rebalance liquidity at times when conventional bank transfers are unavailable.

Kraken will also list SoFiUSD, SoFi's dollar-backed stablecoin, on its platform. The listing will make the token available to Kraken's retail, professional, and institutional users across its trading network. Dollar-backed stablecoins have become one of the most widely used instruments in digital asset markets, and the listing puts SoFi's token into competition with established tokens such as USDC and USDT for trading and settlement use.

At the same time, SoFi will use Kraken Prime as an additional source of liquidity for crypto trades made by its customers. The arrangement can help SoFi access additional market depth when customers buy or sell digital assets through its app.

Kraken Broadens Access to Financial Services

The partnership follows SoFi's wider return to crypto services. The company recently added crypto trading to its app and launched SoFiUSD. These products give the bank a direct role in consumer crypto access and blockchain-based dollar transfers. SoFi had earlier exited crypto trading, winding down its prior offering after regulators tightened scrutiny of banks' digital asset activities in early 2023; the renewed push reflects a more permissive environment as U.S. authorities have moved to clarify rules for banks and stablecoin issuers.

SoFi has also expanded its business banking services. In April, the company launched Big Business Banking, which combines enterprise banking with digital asset services. SEN supports this strategy by giving businesses access to a dollar transfer system that operates beyond regular banking hours.

Kraken has likewise moved beyond basic crypto trading. Its Prime division serves institutional clients and provides trading services, liquidity access, and other tools. The SoFi agreement connects those services with a regulated bank's payment and settlement network, a structure that has become more common as crypto firms pursue regulated banking partners and banks seek fee revenue from digital asset clients.

Both companies said the relationship could expand into payments, treasury services, lending, and other digital asset products. The current deal begins with banking access, a stablecoin listing, and crypto liquidity, while leaving room for additional services later. How broadly such bank–exchange partnerships spread across the industry, and whether additional lenders follow SoFi's path back into crypto services, are likely points to watch as the sector's banking ties continue to deepen.