Commercial banks in the United States advance financial digitalization through corporate use of cryptocurrency networks. One of the most recent examples is SoFi Bank, a nationally licensed institution founded in 2011 that scheduled the implementation of tokenized deposits for the third quarter of 2026.
The revelation of this novelty occurred on May 11, 2026 at the BitGo’s High Roller Summit event in Las Vegas. Simon Griffin, Cryptocurrency Distribution Lead at SoFi, stated that “first came the stablecoin; the tokenized deposit is planned for the third quarter.
Tokenized deposits They are records where money is represented as tokens equivalent to fiat money. This allows internal settlements to be carried out in digital format immediately without modifying the regulatory status of the money.
This digital representation coexists directly with the bank’s traditional records. Through this parallel mechanism, the usual banking supervision is guaranteed and covered by the deposit insurance of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) of the United States
Regarding the general legal framework, Griffin explained the legal nature of these new developments with an example:
Imagine a $100 bill in your hand: it is an asset purely yours. If you deposit it in the bank, it stops being a physical paper and becomes a bank deposit. Now, imagine that the bank registers that same cryptocurrency network deposit. The legal security is the same as that of your usual account. It is still a traditional deposit agreement, backed by the bank and protected by the FDIC, but adapted to the digital world.
Simon Griffin, Cryptocurrency Distribution Lead at SoFi.
Griffin clarified SoFi’s stance. «We clearly distinguish between stablecoins and tokenized deposits. The latter can pay interest and have deposit protection,” he expressed during the event.
Additionally, SoFi will expand the distribution of this technology to other economic actors in the country, both within its customer base and outside, especially to other smaller banks, credit unions and insurers, the executive commented.
Prior to this, The financial institution consolidated the foundations of this technical ecosystem with specific development milestones. December 18, 2025 launched its own stablecoin SoFiUSD which will allow SoFi to act as a stablecoin infrastructure provider for banks, fintech companies and enterprise platforms.
After that step, in April launched its corporate platform SoFi Big Business Banking, designed to allow companies to manage both traditional money and cryptocurrencies in one place. The service allows you to hold US dollars, convert them into stablecoins and transfer funds 24 hours a day within SoFi’s regulated bank.
This initiative occurs in a context in which financial markets explore more continuous and digital operating models, driven by the development of tokenized assets. The transformation responds to global demands for uninterrupted institutional transactions.
At the same time, other large entities already run similar programs within the US financial ecosystem. Since January, BNY Mellon (BNY) has allowed its institutional clients to operate with tokenized bank deposits within its digital asset platform, as reported by CriptoNoticias.
For its part, Cari Network, an interbank network, was created together with five US regional banks to modernize digital payments in the regulated banking system. The participating entities are Huntington Bancshares, First Horizon, M&T Bank, KeyCorp and Old National Bancorp.