Bank of America enters the stablecoin race: What does SoFi's launch of a USD-pegged coin mean?

Question

【ChainNews】American fintech giant SoFi Bank has recently made a big move — issuing its own USD stablecoin SoFiUSD, backed by a 1:1 cash reserve. What does this mean? SoFi has become the first nationwide bank in the US to issue a stablecoin on a public blockchain.

On the technical side, SoFiUSD is already live on Ethereum, offering a 24/7, near-instant, low-cost settlement experience. Whether for interbank clearing, fintech companies, or enterprise users, they can all access it. Even more interesting, the cash reserves are directly held in Federal Reserve accounts, and the earnings can be shared with partners — providing strong incentives for traditional financial institutions to participate.

What are the application scenarios? SoFi has planned many use cases: card network payments, retail settlements, cross-border transfers via SoFi Pay, and even POS terminal payments. In the future, access will gradually be opened to ordinary SoFi users. Additionally, SoFiUSD also supports partner white-label use or direct integration into their own settlement processes.

It’s worth noting that the entire stablecoin ecosystem has been booming this year. Klarna launched KlarnaUSD, Western Union also rolled out USDPT, and payments giant Stripe introduced USDB. Traditional finance is actively embracing blockchain payment infrastructure, and this signal is very clear.

WalletDivorcer · Accepted Answer

TradFi is finally being honest and going directly on the public chain. This time, stablecoins are really going to be reshuffled.

AllInAlice · Answer

Wait, does SoFi really deposit stablecoins directly with the Federal Reserve? That's a pretty bold move.

MidnightTrader · Answer

Oh no, traditional banks have finally been forced to enter the market, and they only dare to play with the Federal Reserve's endorsement.

NotSatoshi · Answer

The signals of traditional finance entering the market are becoming increasingly obvious, and SoFi's move is indeed aggressive.

ProposalDetective · Answer

Oh no, banks are starting to play with stablecoins too. They are really getting involved.

---

Directly storing in Federal Reserve accounts? That move is a bit aggressive; traditional finance really can't sit still anymore.

---

Wait, can SoFi users use it directly? Will the adoption rate in retail increase?

---

1:1 cash reserve sounds good, but I wonder if it will change in the future.

---

Cross-border transfers are indeed a pain point, but whether they can really become faster depends on various factors.

---

Banks issuing stablecoins feels like moving DeFi business towards centralization, which is a bit subtle.

---

The question is, will ordinary people really use on-chain transfers? Or is it basically a B2B thing?

failed_dev_successful_ape · Answer

Traditional finance really can't hold back anymore, directly jumping into on-chain stablecoins

DAOdreamer · Answer

Traditional banks are finally seriously selling stablecoins. Now those shady coins should be worried.

NFT_Therapy_Group · Answer

Traditional finance is finally taking stablecoins seriously, it feels like the landscape is about to change.