Payward, the parent company of Kraken, and SoFi Technologies have announced a strategic partnership designed to connect banking, payments, and digital asset markets through a unified execution and settlement framework. Announced on September 3, the agreement brings Payward onto the SoFi Exchange Network, known as SEN, and makes Kraken Prime an additional liquidity source for crypto trades made through SoFi.
Institutional settlement and banking access
Kraken institutional clients gain access to real-time U.S. dollar settlement 24 hours a day, seven days a week through SEN. This addresses a practical mismatch in digital asset markets, where crypto trades continuously but traditional banking infrastructure often does not. SoFi is positioning its nationally chartered bank as part of the solution. The company launched SoFi Big Business Banking in April 2026, combining enterprise banking with digital asset capabilities on one regulated platform. Its initial ecosystem included Cumberland, Bullish, BitGo, B2C2, Fireblocks, Wintermute, Galaxy, Jupiter, and Mastercard. Kraken now gives that infrastructure direct exposure to another large institutional crypto network.
Kraken Prime and execution quality
Kraken Prime will operate as another liquidity source behind trades placed through the SoFi app. SoFi customers will continue buying and selling crypto through SoFi, while Kraken Prime's multi-venue infrastructure contributes to execution behind the interface. SoFi says the integration is expected to provide better pricing on those trades. SoFi has 15.8 million members, while SoFi Tech Solutions serves more than 134 million accounts globally. Payward operates a shared infrastructure layer behind Kraken and other businesses including NinjaTrader, xStocks, and CF Benchmarks. That architecture combines a global liquidity pool, unified risk and margin engine, collateral and settlement system, and common compliance framework.
SoFiUSD expansion
Kraken will list SoFiUSD, expanding the stablecoin to retail, professional, and institutional clients. The token is issued by SoFi Bank and redeemable one-to-one for U.S. dollars. The Kraken listing follows a March 2026 distribution agreement with Mastercard to enable SoFiUSD as a settlement option across Mastercard's global payments network. Mastercard provides a route into payments, while Kraken provides a route into crypto trading and institutional digital asset liquidity.
Strategic outlook
SoFi and Payward specifically identified payments, treasury, lending, and digital assets as areas where they could work together over time, with qualified custody capabilities available as the partnership expands. For now, Big Business Banking, SEN, and SoFiUSD have an external partner capable of supplying institutional settlement demand, crypto liquidity, and exchange distribution at the same time. The competitive advantage will depend on settlement activity, SoFiUSD volume and external circulation, and execution quality inside the SoFi app.
