SoFi Bank, N.A. has launched SoFi Earn, a tokenized deposit that pays interest and can be converted one-for-one into the bank's SoFiUSD stablecoin, the first such product the company says a national bank has issued to consumers.
Each SOFIE token represents $1 held in an interest-bearing deposit account at the bank, according to a release from parent company SoFi Technologies on Oct. 22. The deposit is eligible for FDIC insurance within applicable limits. Members can convert SOFIE into SoFiUSD to buy digital assets or send funds onchain. SoFi is rolling SOFIE out to SoFi Crypto members now through November.
SoFi said SOFIE carried a variable 4.40% annual percentage yield as of Oct. 20, with no minimum balance. The rate can change at any time and fees may reduce earnings. The description of SOFIE as the "first and only" national bank-issued tokenized deposit for consumers is SoFi's own claim and was not independently verified.
"SoFi Earn combines the earning power and protections of a bank deposit with the speed and utility of digital assets," said Anthony Noto, SoFi's chief executive.
The product sits on two separate legal footings. SOFIE is a deposit liability of the bank and is separate from SoFi Crypto, which holds digital assets. It is not a payment stablecoin. FDIC insurance covers the deposit but does not extend to SoFiUSD or other digital assets once a member converts into them.
The release does not say which blockchain SOFIE runs on or name a technology vendor. SoFi also did not disclose how many members have used the product or how much has been deposited. SoFi reports 15.8 million members across its platform, a company-wide figure rather than a measure of SOFIE uptake.
The launch follows SoFi Bank's September go-live with stablecoin settlement across Mastercard's global payments network, as announced in a Business Wire release.