Kraken's parent plugs into SoFi: 24/7 dollar settlement and a bank-issued stablecoin
SoFi will route some crypto trades for its 15.8 million members through Kraken Prime, and Kraken will list SoFiUSD, a stablecoin issued by SoFi Bank. Kraken's institutional clients also get dollars that settle at any hour, weekends included.
Key points
- SoFi and Payward, Kraken's parent, announced a strategic partnership on September 3, 2026.
- Payward joins SoFi's network that settles US dollars 24/7, and Kraken will list SoFiUSD, a stablecoin from SoFi Bank.
- SoFi will use Kraken Prime as an extra source of crypto liquidity for its 15.8 million members, with custody possible later.
The deal
SoFi Technologies, the US digital bank, and Payward, the parent of the Kraken exchange, announced a strategic partnership on September 3, 2026, according to SoFi's press release. The deal links SoFi's bank to Kraken's trading systems: dollars that settle at any hour, a SoFi stablecoin listed on Kraken, and Kraken liquidity behind SoFi's crypto trading.
SoFi chief executive Anthony Noto said "The financial system should not shut down when markets stay open." Crypto markets trade every day of the year, while bank transfers in the US still largely stop on weekends and after hours.
Payward co-CEO David Ripley said in the same release that the deal works both ways, and predicted that millions of people would make their first crypto purchase inside an app they already use for their paycheck.
The four parts
- 24/7 dollar settlement. Payward joins the SoFi Exchange Network (SEN), SoFi's real-time settlement network, which lets institutional clients clear and settle US dollar transactions at any hour. Kraken's institutional clients will be able to use SEN to move dollars and manage liquidity across both networks outside banking hours.
- SoFiUSD on Kraken. Kraken will list SoFiUSD, the stablecoin issued by SoFi Bank and redeemable one to one for US dollars. A bank-issued stablecoin is a digital dollar token backed and redeemed by a regulated bank.
- Kraken Prime behind SoFi's crypto trading. SoFi will use Kraken Prime, Payward's prime brokerage service, as an additional source of crypto liquidity. SoFi said this will give members better prices on trades they already make in its app. Qualified custody may be added as the relationship grows.
- Business banking. Payward will use SoFi's Big Business Banking service, launched in April. The companies said they could expand into payments, treasury, lending and digital assets over time.
Who reaches whom
The deal gives Kraken indirect access to a large base of US banking customers. SoFi says it has 15.8 million members, and its technology arm, SoFi Tech Solutions, serves more than 134 million accounts for banks, fintechs and brands worldwide.
Payward describes itself as the shared infrastructure behind Kraken, the futures broker NinjaTrader, Breakout, the tokenized stock brand xStocks and the index provider CF Benchmarks. The release says these brands share one global liquidity pool, one risk and margin engine, one collateral and settlement system, and one compliance and licensing framework.
SoFiUSD has been on the market since December 2025, when SoFi called it the first stablecoin issued by a US national bank. In its October 22 release, SoFi said it now uses SoFiUSD to settle its entire card program across Mastercard's network. The same release launched SoFi Earn, a tokenized deposit paying 4.40% APY with FDIC insurance up to the usual limits, which members can convert one to one into SoFiUSD.
SoFi's reach
million
Kraken's road into banking
Payward has been building its own links to the banking system. In March 2026, Kraken said its Wyoming-chartered bank, Kraken Financial, had been granted a Federal Reserve master account, which gives it direct access to US payment rails such as Fedwire without going through another bank. Kraken called it a first for a digital asset bank and said the rollout would be phased, starting with institutional client activity.
Payward is also preparing to go public. In November 2025, Kraken announced that it had confidentially submitted a draft registration statement to the SEC for a proposed initial public offering. It has not said when the listing will happen.
Why 24/7 settlement matters
Settlement is the step where money actually changes hands after a trade. In crypto, a trader can buy bitcoin at 3 a.m. on a Sunday, but if they need to send dollars from a bank to cover the trade, the transfer usually waits until banks reopen. Large trading firms work around this by parking extra cash on exchanges, which ties up capital.
A network that settles dollars at any hour lets those firms keep less idle cash on each platform. That is the problem SEN is meant to solve for Kraken's institutional clients.
Payward has since repeated the model abroad. On October 4, 2026, Payward announced that it had integrated SGB Net, the real-time clearing network of Singapore Gulf Bank, a digital bank regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain. Selected institutional clients in Asia and the Gulf can now settle US dollar transactions at any hour, with more clients and currencies planned. Payward says SGB Net processes more than $20 billion in fiat transactions a month. SGB will also use Kraken Prime for liquidity, the same role Kraken Prime plays for SoFi.
Timeline
Kraken confidentially submits a draft IPO registration statement
SoFi launches SoFiUSD
Kraken Financial receives a Federal Reserve master account
SoFi launches Big Business Banking
SoFi and Payward announce their partnership
Payward announces a 24/7 settlement link with Singapore Gulf Bank
SoFi launches SoFi Earn, convertible into SoFiUSD
LC Insight analysis
This section is our reading of the facts above, not a statement of fact.
- We think 24/7 settlement is the most useful part. Institutional crypto traders lose time and money waiting for banks to reopen, and a round-the-clock dollar rail fixes that directly.
- Using Kraken Prime is SoFi quietly admitting that deep crypto liquidity is hard to build in-house. The likely result: better prices for SoFi users and steady order flow for Kraken.
- Listing SoFiUSD on Kraken gives a bank stablecoin a real venue. Whether it pulls users from USDC and USDT is open; trading volumes will tell.
What's next
- Trading volume and supply of SoFiUSD after its Kraken listing
- Whether custody is added to the partnership
- More banks joining Payward's 24/7 settlement links
- Timing of Payward's IPO
Disclaimer. This article is based on public information and the sources listed below as of the update time shown. It is for information only and is not investment, legal or tax advice. Figures may change as companies and authorities publish new data.
Sources
- SoFi Technologies, SoFi and Payward partner to connect banking and digital asset markets (September 3, 2026)
- SoFi Technologies, SoFi launches SoFi Earn (October 22, 2026)
- Payward, Payward and Singapore Gulf Bank partner to bring 24/7 settlement (October 4, 2026)
- Kraken, Kraken becomes first digital asset bank to receive a Federal Reserve master account (March 4, 2026)
- Kraken, confidential submission of draft registration statement (November 19, 2025)
