Finance

SoFi CEO says fintech bank is bringing back crypto investing

Published

6 hours ago

April 29, 2025

Business Finance News

Anthony Noto, CEO of SoFi.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

SoFi CEO Anthony Noto said the fintech bank will bring back cryptocurrency investing this year after a “fundamental shift” in the regulatory landscape under the Trump administration.

SoFi was forced to drop crypto investing in late 2023 as a condition of receiving a bank charter in a time of heightened federal scrutiny of digital assets. Customers, who had access to more than 20 crypto coins at the time, were either shunted to Blockchain.com or liquidated their holdings.

But after new guidance from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the technology company is planning an aggressive push back into crypto, Noto told CNBC late Monday in an interview.

“We’re going to re-enter the crypto business, which we had to exit,” Noto said. “We’ll re-enter the business of allowing our members to invest in cryptocurrency. We want to actually make a bigger, more comprehensive push into cryptocurrency [this time], to include really providing crypto or blockchain capabilities in each product area that we have.”

The SoFi announcement is early proof that banks are looking to push further into crypto in the Trump era. In January, the CEOs of Bank of America and Morgan Stanley said that their institutions were ready to get involved in crypto. At the same time, crypto firms including Circle and BitGo are planning to apply for bank charters or licenses, further blurring the lines between traditional and digital finance.

SoFi should be able to offer crypto investing by year-end, barring unforeseen circumstances, Noto said.

He specifically cited a recent letter “that basically said that OCC-regulated banks can operate in crypto businesses, and that is a fundamental shift in the regulatory landscape.”

The CEO said that expected the current regulatory environment, in which Trump appointees rolled back restrictions around crypto and a regulatory framework for stablecoins is making its way through Congress, to allow the company to expand beyond investing.

Over the next six to 24 months, SoFi will look to adopt crypto or its underlying technology in all of the company’s major product lines, Noto said. That timeline could be accelerated with acquisitions, he added.

“Our aspirations are as broad as they are for any other product that we have, and we believe we can leverage the technology across lending and savings and spending and investing and protecting,” Noto said.

Future products could include borrowing cash based on the value of crypto held with SoFi, as well as using crypto in payments, Noto said.

Finance

UK announces draft rules for crypto industry, US collaboration

Published

1 hour ago

April 29, 2025

Business Finance News

Romain Costaseca | Afp | Getty Images

LONDON — Britain on Tuesday published draft legislation for the cryptocurrency industry, touting greater collaboration with the U.S. as it looks to regulate the wild world of digital assets.

Speaking at a fintech event Tuesday, U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves announced plans for a “comprehensive regulatory regime for crypto assets,” adding that the proposals would aim to make the country a “world leader in digital assets.”

The rules will bring crypto exchanges, dealers and agents into the regulatory fold, “cracking down on bad actors while supporting legitimate innovation,” the U.K.’s Treasury department said in a statement released following Reeves’ remarks.

“Crypto firms with UK customers will also have to meet clear standards on transparency, consumer protection, and operational resilience — just like firms in traditional finance,” the Treasury’s statement added.

Reeves said that the U.K. planned to deepen regulatory cooperation with the U.S. to boost “responsible” adoption of digital assets. “For the U.K. to be a world leader in digital assets, international cooperation is vital,” she told attendees at fintech industry group Innovate Finance’s annual summit.

The U.K. finance minister met with her U.S. counterpart Scott Bessent last week to discuss a trade deal. She had previously said that improving business ties with the European Union was “arguably even more important.”

“Regulation must support business, not hold it back,” Reeves said Thursday.

Crypto industry insiders say the Financial Conduct Authority — which is the U.K.’s financial services watchdog — has been too restrictive when it comes to approving registrations from digital asset firms.

The FCA is the regulator responsible for registering firms that want to provide crypto services within the scope of money laundering regulations in the U.K.

Finance

Treasury Secretary says individual investors trust President Trump

Published

3 hours ago

April 29, 2025

Business Finance News

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: Individual investors trust President Trump

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that individual investors, who have largely been holding their positions through the recent market turmoil, have faith in President Donald Trump’s tariff policy.

“Individual investors have held tight, while institutional investors have panicked … individual investors trust President Trump,” Bessent said during a press briefing alongside White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

“Vanguard, one of the largest money management firms in America, said that over the past 100 days, 97% of Americans haven’t done a trade,” Bessent, a former hedge fund CEO, said, citing a Washington Post story with the data.

Trump’s rollout and subsequent suspension of the highest tariffs on imports in generations, fueled the worst sell-off in stocks since the onset of the pandemic in 2020. The S&P 500 briefly tumbled into a bear market before recouping some of the losses, and the equity benchmark is now about 10% off its February all-time high.

During the depth of the April rout, retail investors swooped in to snap up stocks at depressed values. At the same time, hedge funds and professional traders ran for the exit while piling on bearish wagers against the market.

Institutions have grown increasingly worried that steep tariffs will weigh heavily on consumers and slow down the economy, possibly tipping it into a recession.

Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo, now sees a summer recession hitting the U.S. as consumers start to see trade-related shortages in stores next month. Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, said Trump’s global trade fight risks spoiling the “brand” of the United States and tarnishing the allure of U.S. Treasury debt.