SoFi's Kraken Deal Grows Its Stablecoin Reach — Analyst Calls It 'Another Positive Development' But Still Sees 13% Downside

SoFi Technologies Inc. (SOFI) on Thursday announced it will partner with Payward, a unified financial infrastructure platform, to strengthen its banking, payments, liquidity, and digital asset markets.The partnership will entail Payward leveraging SoFi’s Big Business Banking capabilities, joining the SoFi Exchange Network (SEN), and listing SoFiUSD on its multi-asset trading platform. Additionally, SoFi will use Kraken Prime, Payward’s full-service prime brokerage solution, as an additional source of digital asset liquidity. was down over 0.2% in overnight trading after finishing the regular session 3.7% higher on Thursday.How Does This Help SOFI?Via the deal, Payward will get access to SEN, SoFi’s real-time settlement network, unlocking a path for institutional clients to clear and settle U.S. dollar transactions 24 hours a day, seven days a week.Meanwhile, Kraken institutional clients will be able to use SEN’s real-time settlement rails to move USD and manage liquidity across both networks at any hour.Access to Kraken Prime’s liquidity could potentially improve crypto-trading prices for SoFi members, while Kraken will list SoFiUSD, expanding the stablecoin’s reach to millions of users.The deal also strengthens SoFi’s Big Business Banking, launched in April, and could pave the way for deeper collaboration in payments, treasury, lending and digital assets.“The financial system should not shut down when markets stay open,” said Anthony Noto, CEO of SoFi. “SoFi is building the trusted financial infrastructure for an always-on economy, combining the strength of a nationally chartered bank with technology that allows money to move seamlessly and efficiently. Our partnership with Payward is a powerful validation of that strategy and an important step toward a financial system where businesses can move money across networks and, over time, across borders without the delays and fragmentation of legacy infrastructure.”Keefe Views The Partnership As Positive Development Keefe Bruyette views SoFi Technologies' partnership with Payward as "another positive development" for the company's digital asset business, according to The Fly. The analyst said that SoFi stands to benefit from Payward's operations and connection to Kraken's platform. Keefe views the deal as likely to expand access to SoFi's digital U.S. dollar stablecoin.In addition, the analyst said the company's customers should enjoy better pricing on crypto transactions made in the SoFi app, as orders will now route through Kraken Prime.However, Keefe has an ‘Underperform’ rating on SoFi Technologies with a $16 price target, which implies a 13% downside from the last close.SOFI Stock: Retail StanceOn Stocktwits, retail sentiment around SOFI stock was ‘bearish’ at the time of writing amid ‘high’ message volumes.One bullish user , “$SOFI All the legacy banks know what’s coming.”However, another user , “$SOFI down another 8 cents, can see where this is heading, nothing but disappointment.”SOFI stock is down more than 32% in 2026.