Digital bank SoFi (SOFI) and Kraken are plugging into each other’s financial plumbing with a deal that gives the crypto exchange access to SoFi’s banking and dollar settlement rails while bringing Kraken’s trading infrastructure to SoFi’s customers.
Payward, Kraken’s parent company, will join the SoFi Exchange Network, dubbed SEN, allowing Kraken’s institutional clients to move U.S. dollars and manage liquidity around the clock instead of waiting for traditional banking hours, according to a Thursday press release shared with CoinDesk.
Kraken also lists SoFiUSD, SoFi’s bank-issued stablecoin, while SoFi will use Kraken Prime as an additional source of liquidity for crypto trades made by its customers.
“The financial system should not shut down when markets stay open,” SoFi CEO Anthony Noto said, pointing to the company’s goal of allowing businesses to move money across networks without the delays of traditional banking infrastructure.
The tie-up fits a broader race to build financial one-stop shops. Crypto exchanges are expanding beyond token trading into stocks, derivatives and payments, while fintechs and traditional financial firms are coming from the other direction, adding crypto, stablecoins and blockchain-based settlement.
