San Francisco-based bank SoFi has about $170 million worth of cryptocurrencies on its balance sheet, according to its second quarter (Q2) earnings report. Bank of America, which serves more than six million customers, saw a significant increase in its cryptocurrency holdings compared to the previous quarter.
The bank holds Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE) and Ethereum Classic (ETC). Of the total $166 million in cryptocurrency investments, the bank owns $82 million in BTC and $55 million in ETH. DOGE is in third place with almost $5 million, while ADA has a total of $4.5 million. An investor report also revealed that SoFi has welcomed over 500,000 customers and now supports trading in over 22 cryptocurrencies.
SoFi doesn’t just hold cryptocurrencies, it It also allows customers to buy and sell various cryptocurrenciesHowever, it does not provide any staking services. The US bank began providing crypto services to its customers in September 2019 in partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.
However, it was not a bank when it started providing cryptocurrency services and received its license in February 2022, making it one of the few traditional banks to offer cryptocurrency services.
However, SoFi’s cryptocurrency offering hasn’t gone down too well with the Federal Reserve and US lawmakers. In November 2022, a US Senate committee questioned SoFi’s compliance with banking legislation, prompting a January 2024 deadline. Cointelegraph reached out to SoFiBank for clarification on the compliance deadline and how it may affect its cryptocurrency holdings, but did not receive a response. Response at the time of publication.
The crypto industry’s association with traditional banks is seen as an important step towards mass adoption.But the future looks uncertain, following the collapse of several crypto-oriented banks in a turbulent 2022 and 2023.
US lawmakers battled to contain the damage and bail out customer funds, but that puts the future of crypto and traditional finance partnerships at risk, as regulators blame cryptocurrencies for bank collapses.
Translation by Walter Rizzo