SoFi and Payward Link Banking and Crypto Infrastructure
Payward will join SoFi’s 24/7 dollar settlement network while Kraken Prime provides additional crypto liquidity and SoFiUSD expands to Kraken.
SoFi Technologies and Payward are expanding the links between traditional banking and digital-asset markets through a strategic partnership covering payments, settlement, liquidity and stablecoins.
Announced on Sept. 3, the agreement will bring Payward into the SoFi Exchange Network (SEN), integrate Kraken Prime as an additional liquidity source for SoFi and make the bank-issued SoFiUSD stablecoin available through Kraken.
The arrangement gives both companies access to infrastructure on the other side of the banking-crypto divide, with a particular focus on removing the restrictions imposed by traditional banking hours.
Payward Joins SoFi’s 24/7 Settlement Network
Payward will join SEN, SoFi’s real-time U.S. dollar settlement network, allowing institutional clients to clear and settle dollar transactions 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The integration will also connect Kraken to the network. Institutional clients using the crypto platform will be able to move U.S. dollars and manage liquidity through SEN at any hour, rather than waiting for conventional banking windows.
“The financial system should not shut down when markets stay open,” SoFi CEO Anthony Noto said.
Noto said SoFi is developing financial infrastructure for an always-on economy by combining its nationally chartered bank with technology designed to move money more efficiently.
SoFi launched SEN in April alongside its Big Business Banking offering, bringing its enterprise banking and digital-asset operations under a broader infrastructure platform.
Kraken Prime Adds Liquidity for SoFi Crypto Trading
The partnership also works in the opposite direction. SoFi will use Kraken Prime, Payward’s prime brokerage platform, as an additional source of digital-asset liquidity for crypto trading offered through the SoFi app.
The integration is intended to improve pricing on trades made by SoFi members. Qualified custody capabilities could also be introduced as the relationship develops.
“Money and markets are converging into a new financial paradigm, and the infrastructure underneath has to catch up,” Payward Co-CEO David Ripley said.
Ripley described the collaboration as a two-way connection between consumers accessing crypto through familiar financial apps and the deeper liquidity required to support those transactions at scale.
SoFi reported $134.3 million in crypto transaction revenue in the second quarter, up 10% from the previous quarter. Crypto nevertheless remained a relatively small contributor to the company’s $1.2 billion in adjusted net revenue.
SoFiUSD Expands to Kraken
Another component of the agreement will bring SoFiUSD to Kraken’s multi-asset trading platform, extending access to the bank-issued stablecoin across Kraken’s retail, professional and institutional client base.
SoFiUSD is redeemable one-to-one for U.S. dollars and is designed to combine onchain settlement capabilities with the safeguards of a regulated financial institution.
Its planned Kraken listing adds another connection between regulated banking infrastructure and crypto-native markets, alongside SEN integration and the use of Kraken Prime.
Payward Builds Out Regulated Financial Infrastructure
The SoFi agreement comes as Payward continues expanding beyond its Kraken exchange business into custody, banking and other financial infrastructure.
In May, Payward applied to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust company charter to establish Payward National Trust Company.
Kraken Financial, Payward’s Wyoming-chartered bank, also received a Federal Reserve master account in March, providing direct access to the central bank’s payment system.
The latest deal follows another recent expansion. As reported by CryptoPulse.News, Payward and the London Stock Exchange announced a partnership on Sept. 1 to bring 100 major LSE-listed companies onchain as xStocks, with the first tokenized equities expected to become available through Kraken and other xStocks Alliance platforms.
These developments show Payward building connections across several layers of financial infrastructure rather than relying solely on crypto exchange activity.
For the wider market, the SoFi partnership is particularly notable because it links banking rails, 24/7 dollar settlement, stablecoins and crypto liquidity within a shared infrastructure framework. As digital-asset markets continue operating around the clock, integrations of this kind could narrow one of the longstanding gaps between always-on crypto trading and banking systems still largely structured around traditional settlement hours.
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