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U.S.-based fintech platform SoFi (SOFI) said on Wednesday it will introduce international remittances through blockchain and stablecoins and allow users to invest in cryptocurrencies this year, making good on its promised digital asset push.
The upcoming remittance service will let users send U.S. dollars and select stablecoins to recipients abroad with "well-known" blockchain networks processing the transactions, allowing funds to be sent around the clock, converted into local currencies and deposited quickly into recipients' accounts, according to the press release.
The company says this will be significantly cheaper and faster than traditional methods such as wire transfers or bank-based remittances.
The firm will also relaunch crypto trading services, letting users buy, sell and hold major cryptocurrencies like bitcoin BTC and Ethereum's ether ETH later this year.
Future services could include staking, borrowing against crypto holdings and providing blockchain tech infrastructure to third-parties through SoFi’s Galileo platform, the firm said.
The moves come as CEO Anthony Noto shared plans earlier this year to re-enter the crypto business after the firm suspended digital asset-related services in 2023 in order to obtain banking license under the previous administration's harsher regulatory environment towards crypto. The change is backed by recent guidance from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that allows nationally chartered banks to offer crypto custody and stablecoin-related services.
"The future of financial services is being completely reinvented through innovations in crypto, digital assets, and blockchain more broadly," said Noto in a statment. "We’re accelerating our efforts to give members more choice and more control, whether they’re investing, sending money across borders, or planning for their future."
