SoFi Becomes First U.S. Bank to Settle $25 Billion Card Program Using Stablecoins via Mastercard Network
SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI) has become the first nationally chartered bank in the United States to settle its entire $25 billion card program using stablecoin technology across Mastercard's global payments network. The initiative uses SoFiUSD, a dollar-pegged token issued by SoFi Bank and fully backed by cash reserves. This move eliminates key barriers for crypto adoption at retail level—such as infrastructure changes or volatility exposure—for merchants while enabling instant zero-cost settlement. The deployment marks the culmination of CEO Anthony Noto's guidance from earlier in 2026, where he outlined plans to transition SoFi’s trading and consumer card businesses onto stablecoin rails. The system abstracts blockchain complexity away from both consumers and merchants, allowing seamless integration without altering existing processes or hardware. SoFi shares rose slightly following the announcement but remain down significantly year-to-date.
