SoFi Technologies and Payward announced a strategic partnership on Thursday designed to connect banking, payments, liquidity and digital asset markets.

Under the agreement, Payward — the infrastructure platform behind Kraken, one of the largest and longest-operating cryptocurrency exchanges — will join the SoFi Exchange Network and list SoFiUSD, SoFi's bank-issued stablecoin, on its multi-asset trading platform.

SoFi will also use Kraken Prime, Payward's prime brokerage solution, as an additional source of digital asset liquidity, with qualified custody capabilities to become available as the relationship expands. Qualified custody arrangements, in which a qualified custodian safeguards client assets, have become a focal point for institutions seeking to hold digital assets under regulatory expectations.

By joining the SoFi Exchange Network, the company's real-time settlement network, Payward is said to unlock new pathways for institutional clients to clear and settle US dollar transactions around the clock. The partnership also connects Kraken to the network, allowing its institutional clients to move dollars and manage liquidity across both networks at any hour. This addresses a long-standing gap between conventional banking, which operates largely on business-hours settlement cycles, and cryptocurrency markets that trade continuously on weekends and holidays.

"The financial system should not shut down when markets stay open," commented Anthony Noto, chief executive of SoFi. "Our partnership with Payward is a powerful validation of that strategy and an important step toward a financial system where businesses can move money across networks and, over time, across borders."

David Ripley, co-chief executive of Payward, stated that "money and markets are converging into a new financial paradigm and the underlying infrastructure had to catch up."

Kraken Prime will serve as an additional source of liquidity behind SoFi's crypto offering, enabling better pricing for members on trades they already make in the app. The arrangement deepens SoFi's re-engagement with digital asset services, after the company re-entered crypto trading for members following its earlier exit from that business.

SoFi Technologies is a US-based financial technology company offering banking, lending, and investment services through a mobile app and web platform. Payward operates the infrastructure behind Kraken, a digital asset exchange founded in 2011 that serves both retail and institutional clients. SoFiUSD is a stablecoin issued by SoFi's banking arm, designed to maintain a value pegged to the US dollar.

The partnership reflects a broader trend of traditional financial institutions and digital asset firms building direct connections between conventional banking rails and cryptocurrency markets, with bank-issued stablecoins and round-the-clock dollar settlement emerging as areas where the two sectors increasingly overlap.