US nationally chartered bank SoFi fully launches virtual asset trading services…also pursues stablecoin 'SoFi USD'

SoFi Technologies, a nationally chartered bank in the United States, has officially launched virtual asset (cryptocurrency) trading services for customers in the country. This is the first time in the U.S. that a financial institution holding a bank charter directly offers virtual asset trading, and market entry by traditional finance is accelerating following regulatory easing.

On the 12th (local time), Cointelegraph reported that SoFi began sequentially rolling out trading services for dozens of virtual assets, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), starting on the 11th, and plans to expand access to all customers within weeks.

Anthony Noto, SoFi CEO, said in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box" that "we are the first and only bank in the U.S. to have a national bank charter and have launched consumer virtual asset trading," and explained that "the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) eased regulations on banks' handling of virtual assets in March this year, making market entry possible."

Noto emphasized, "The biggest constraint over the past two years was that we could not directly hold or trade virtual assets," and added, "this service is the first attempt to combine the trust of a bank with the innovativeness of blockchain."

SoFi suspended its virtual asset business as a condition of obtaining a bank charter in 2023, but signaled reentry by introducing blockchain-based cross-border payment services in June this year. At that time, customers could convert fiat currency to cryptocurrency and send it via blockchain.

Noto also stated, "Blockchain and virtual assets, like artificial intelligence (AI), are 'super cycle technologies' and will be deeply integrated into the financial system." He also unveiled plans to issue a stablecoin 'SoFi USD' backed 1:1 by dollar reserves, adding, "Only stablecoins that guarantee liquidity and have no credit or maturity risk can drive payment innovation."

He warned about non-bank issued stablecoins: "It is unclear where the reserves are held, whether there is maturity risk or bankruptcy isolation," and "simply claiming a $1 backing does not mean that the funds exist at actual settlement."

SoFi currently holds over $41 billion in assets, with third-quarter revenue of $962 million and 12.6 million members. According to the company, about 60% of all members showed interest in virtual asset investments, and Noto himself holds about 3% of his assets in Bitcoin.

He said, "We are investing in technology, not buying currency," and likened it, "If one could have bought World Wide Web coins in 1990, today's Bitcoin investment is a similar technological investment."