SoFi Bank’s Q2 Crypto Holdings Surge

According to its second quarter (Q2) earnings report, the San Francisco-based SoFi bank has nearly $170 million in crypto on its balance sheet.

The bank, which serves over six million customers in the United States, has seen a significant increase in its crypto holdings compared to the previous quarter.

Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Cardano, Solana, Dogecoin, and Ethereum Classic are held by the bank. The bank possesses $82 million in BTC and $55 million in ETH out of a total crypto investment portfolio of $166 million.

ADA’s holdings totaled $4.5 million, while DOGE’s totaled nearly $5 million. SoFi has onboarded over 500,000 customers and now facilitates trading for over 22 cryptocurrencies, according to a presentation to investors.

SoFi crypto holdings, Q2 2023. Source: SoFi

SoFi not only holds cryptocurrency but also allows customers to purchase and sell a variety of cryptocurrencies. However, the company does not offer staking services.

In partnership with the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange, the U.S. bank began offering crypto services to clients in September 2019.

It did not have a banking license until February 2022, making it one of the few traditional banks that offers crypto services.

The U.S. Federal Reserve and legislators are not fond of SoFi’s cryptocurrency offering. In November 2022, a Senate committee questioned SoFi’s compliance with banking law and reminded the company of a January 2024 deadline.

The crypto sector’s association with traditional banking is viewed as a crucial step toward mass adoption, but the future is uncertain after a turbulent 2022 and the bankruptcy of several crypto-focused banks in 2023.

As regulators blamed cryptocurrencies for the bank’s failure, U.S. lawmakers raced to contain the damage and save customers’ funds, but partnerships between cryptocurrencies and traditional finance were hampered for the foreseeable future.