SoFi Taps Kraken for Deeper Crypto Liquidity

The fintech company SoFi Technologies has partnered with Kraken, the parent company of Payward, to connect banking, payments, and digital asset markets. Under this agreement, Kraken will list SoFiUSD, a bank-issued stablecoin from SoFi's nationally chartered bank.

This partnership allows SoFi to route its digital asset order flow through Kraken Prime for trade execution. Kraken Prime uses a smart order routing system that reads pricing and depth across supported venues in real-time, sending each order to where it fills best.

The tie-up pairs a regulated banking franchise with Kraken's institutional trading stack. It also extends the run of institutional relationships for Kraken, which has already partnered with Deutsche Borse on FX and derivatives infrastructure, Nasdaq on a tokenized equity gateway, and Franklin Templeton on tokenized ETFs.

The partnership builds on stablecoin expansion among established banks, including a group of 21 financial institutions that moved to launch a USD stablecoin enterprise. SoFi counts 15.8 million members, who can already buy and sell crypto using the app.