SoFi Adds Bitcoin, ETH and LTC to its Trading Platform, Now Offering Stocks, ETFs and Crypto in the App

SoFi, a California based financial startup has joined in on the crypto frenzy by announcing the addition of three cryptocurrencies, bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin on its trading platform SoFi Invest. The addition of cryptocurrencies to its already diverse trading platform makes it one of the first to offer acting investing with stocks, Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) and now cryptocurrencies as well.

The decision was not out of the blue either, as it was reported earlier that the startup was beta testing the crypto trading services last week, through its partner Coinbase. To give the newly launched services an early boost, the firm is offering a $25 bonus to every customer who signs up for a SoFi crypto account and buys at least $10 worth of crypto within seven days of announcement.

Anthony Noto, the CEO of the firm is a big-time crypto advocate himself and has been trading in cryptocurrencies for years. Noto mentioned that the addition of crypto trading services was based on the huge demand for the entity from its 800,000 strong customer base. He said,

“Feedback from our members has made it clear that a significant percentage are not only interested in learning more about cryptocurrencies but are also already buying and selling crypto […] We’re very pleased to be adding this new product to SoFi Invest, as access, education, and keeping costs low for our members is at the heart of what we do.”

SoFi plans of entering the crypto market were speculated since February when it partnered with Coinbase. Now it is being reported that Coinbase would indeed be helping the firm in providing crypto trading services to its customers. However, the crypto trading services on SoFi Invest won't be available to the customers of New York and New Jersey due to regulatory issues. The firm has promised that based on the demand, they might add more cryptocurrencies to the platform in the coming months.

Nato was quite bullish on the launch of the crypto trading services given the increasing demand and an internal survey which showed the exceptional rate of customer acquisition on SoFi Invest. Nato who is himself a believer in decentralization said,

“I believe in the power of distributed ledger technology. But one of the things about crypto is it's not always broadly available in a way that's easy, transparent and fast, “

This year has been the year of major fintech firms going big on crypto adoption, be it payment processing platform Square owned by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, or investment platforms such as Robinhood and the exchange eToro.