SoFi Technologies and Payward, the company behind Kraken, have agreed to connect SoFi’s real-time settlement network with Payward’s digital-asset infrastructure, a move designed to extend 24/7 U.S. dollar settlement between the two firms’ platforms. The arrangement would give eligible clients a way to move and settle dollars outside conventional banking hours, including weekends, when cryptocurrency markets continue to trade.
Under the agreement, Payward will join the SoFi Exchange Network, or SEN, while Kraken will list SoFiUSD on its trading platform. SoFi, meanwhile, plans to use Kraken Prime as an additional source of digital-asset liquidity for trades placed through the SoFi app.
The partnership links two companies that have been building services around a persistent operational gap in crypto markets: dollar payment systems often retain limited hours even though digital-asset markets operate continuously. A real-time settlement connection could reduce the delay between sending funds and putting them to work on a trading venue, particularly during periods of sharp price movement outside the U.S. banking day.
Sen connection targets round-the-clock dollar settlement
SEN is SoFi’s network for real-time settlement, launched in April alongside the company’s Big Business Banking offering. SoFi described that business line as combining enterprise banking capabilities with its digital-asset operations.
Payward’s connection to SEN is intended to allow U.S. dollar transactions to settle around the clock across the two systems, according to the companies. The practical effect would be to make funding and settlement less dependent on standard wire-transfer windows, which can leave traders waiting until the next business day to move cash.
That delay can carry a meaningful cost in a market where liquidity and prices can change rapidly. A trader seeking to buy after a weekend sell-off, meet a collateral requirement, or close a position may otherwise need to keep funds pre-positioned on multiple platforms. Faster movement of dollars can reduce that need, although it does not remove market, custody, or counterparty risks.
The arrangement also places SoFiUSD on Kraken’s platform. Neither company detailed in the supplied announcement how the asset’s listing will be phased in, which markets it will serve, or which client categories will be eligible for the settlement service.
Kraken prime adds a liquidity venue for SoFi
SoFi’s planned use of Kraken Prime gives its app another route for sourcing digital-asset liquidity. Prime services generally package trading access, custody, and execution tools for institutions and larger market participants, and SoFi’s use of the service could help it route orders beyond a single liquidity pool.
Execution quality often depends on how many venues and market makers are available for an order, especially for larger trades or less-liquid assets. Adding another liquidity source could give SoFi more flexibility in how it executes customer transactions, though the companies did not publish data on expected spreads, volumes, fees, or price improvement.
The deal arrives as SoFi reports growing revenue from cryptocurrency transactions. In its second-quarter results, SoFi reported $134.3 million in crypto transaction revenue, a 10% increase from the previous quarter. The company reported adjusted net revenue of $1.2 billion for the same period.
Those figures show crypto activity has become a measurable contributor to SoFi’s business, even as the company operates across lending, brokerage, banking, and technology services. Connecting with Payward’s infrastructure gives SoFi a more direct operational relationship with one of the better-known U.S.-focused crypto trading businesses, rather than relying solely on traditional banking rails to support its digital-asset services.
Payward builds regulated financial infrastructure
For Payward, joining SEN fits a strategy that reaches beyond operating a spot cryptocurrency exchange. The company has been expanding its custody, institutional, and financial-infrastructure businesses as regulated access to payments and banking services becomes more valuable to digital-asset firms.
In May, Payward applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust company charter under the proposed Payward National Trust Company. A national trust charter could give the company a federal framework for custody and related fiduciary services if approved, though the application remains subject to the OCC’s review process.
Payward also operates Kraken Financial, a Wyoming-chartered special purpose depository institution. Kraken Financial received a Federal Reserve master account in March, according to the supplied material. A master account provides an eligible institution access to Federal Reserve payment services, reducing reliance on correspondent banks for certain settlement functions.
Taken together, the master-account approval, the trust-charter application, and the SEN relationship point to a company seeking more control over the movement, custody, and settlement of client assets. That infrastructure focus is increasingly central for crypto companies serving institutions, where the ability to move cash reliably can be as commercially relevant as the trading interface itself.
A narrower answer to the weekend funding problem
The SoFi-Payward deal does not change the volatility of cryptocurrency markets or guarantee that funds will always be available during stressed conditions. It addresses a narrower but recurring friction: the mismatch between continuously active digital-asset markets and dollar systems that have historically paused overnight and on weekends.
That mismatch has forced many active traders to hold excess balances on exchanges or accept that cash sent late on a Friday may not arrive until Monday. If the new settlement connection operates as described, clients using the linked services would have another path for moving dollars when markets are open but conventional banking channels are not.
The commercial value will depend on implementation, availability, transaction limits, and the range of clients that can access the service. Even so, the agreement gives SoFi and Payward a practical way to tie banking-style settlement infrastructure more closely to always-on crypto trading, while extending each company’s reach into the other’s customer and liquidity network.
For deeper insight into traditional banks linking with crypto, explore what is TradFi and how does it work in today’s evolving settlement landscape.
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