- The fintech bank stopped offering crypto products and services in 2023.
- Onerous banking regulations were reportedly the cause.
- It’s one of many large firms exploring the crypto landscape this year.
SoFi, the San Francisco-based fintech bank, says it will re-open its doors to crypto.
The company cited US President Trump’s deregulation push around digital assets as the driving force behind the move.
“The regulatory environment is definitely evolving and it’s going to allow us to re-enter being able to offer crypto coins in our Invest product – the ability to buy, sell or hold cryptocurrency,” Anthony Noto, SoFi’s CEO, told CNBC.
“We’d hope to be able to do that over the next six months or so.”
After beginning to offer cryptocurrency custody and trading on its platform in 2019, the company then began sunsetting its customers’ crypto accounts in November 2023.
The reason? Increased scrutiny on crypto from banking regulators, Bloomberg reported at the time.
SoFi, which has about 11 million customers, according to its most recent quarterly report, joins a growing list of banks and institutions returning to, incorporating, or growing their crypto businesses.
Nexo, a crypto wealth management platform, told Reuters that it also plans to reopen in the US this year. Two years ago, the firm exited the US and paid a $45 million settlement to the Securities and Exchange Commission over a crypto lending product it had offered.
Morgan Stanley in January said it wants to offer “safe” crypto products, and Bank of America in February said it plans to develop a stablecoin.
The credit card giant Mastercard says it’s also moving into stablecoins alongside crypto broker Paxos and USDC issuer Circle.
“With increasing global regulatory clarity, stablecoins are evolving from crypto trading tools into essential solutions,” Mastercard said in a statement.
The US has been a rosier place for crypto as Trump’s second term has progressed.
In January, the SEC rescinded a controversial rule known as SAB 121 which prevented US banks from custodying crypto in a capital-efficient way.
In March, the White House announced it will begin work on establishing a Bitcoin reserve alongside a digital assets stockpile.
Earlier this month, an IRS rule that could constrain DeFi activity was rescinded.
The SEC, which is now run by the pro-crypto Chair Paul Atkins following his swearing in last week, dropped several existing cases against crypto-focused firms including Kraken, Coinbase and Ripple.
At the same time, several pro-crypto laws are currently under consideration in Congress, perhaps most notably the so-called Genius Act around stablecoins.
SoFI’s re-entry is “dependent on the evolving regulatory environment — but so far that environment has been really positive,” Soto told CNBC.
Andrew Flanagan is a markets correspondent for DL News. Have a tip? Reach out to aflanagan@dlnews.com.
