You're Already Trading Crypto. But Are You Trading It at a Bank?

Most traders never think about what's behind the platform they use every day. Maybe it's time they did.

In the first half of 2025 alone, crypto thieves stole more than $2.17 billion in digital assets from trading platforms — already surpassing the total losses for all of 2024, according to Chainalysis. The question most active traders never stop to ask: What kind of company is actually holding your crypto?

If you're trading on one of the big-name platforms, the answer might surprise you. Most crypto platforms operate under a state money transmitter license — the same type of license used by check-cashing shops and wire transfer services. It's a low bar. It doesn't require the capital reserves, governance standards, or federal oversight that a bank does. And when platforms operating under those thinner frameworks run into trouble, traders may be among the last to know — and the last to get made whole.

SoFi: A banking alternative for crypto

SoFi offers services through what it states is the first nationally chartered bank where individuals can buy, sell, and hold crypto. As a national bank, SoFi operates under the oversight of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), with the governance standards and capital requirements that come with a federal charter. It's a fundamentally different foundation than what most crypto platforms offer.

For active traders, that means you can buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and 25+ other cryptocurrencies on a platform built with the safeguards of a bank — which may differ from platforms operating under other licensing structures. And here's the part that matters for anyone managing real money: SoFi isn't just a crypto app. It's a full financial platform. Your checking account, your savings, your crypto — all in one place, under one app, with one login.

Crypto is increasingly moving from speculation to allocation — and that changes where you should hold it.

The way professionals view crypto has shifted. What was once treated as a speculative trade — something to flip on a hot headline — is increasingly being positioned as a long-term portfolio allocation. BlackRock, has publicly argued that a 1%–2% Bitcoin allocation may have played a meaningful role on overall portfolio risk in a diversified 60/40 portfolio, calling Bitcoin a "unique diversifier" because its value drivers may not be directly tied to traditional risk assets. Some pension funds and wealth advisors that previously avoided crypto are now allocating to it on behalf of clients.

For active traders, that shift changes the calculation. For many serious traders, it's a core position they're planning to hold for five, ten, or twenty years. And when a position sits somewhere for that long, the interface and the fees start to matter less than the infrastructure behind it.

Getting started with SoFi may take only a short amount of time. Open a SoFi crypto account, fund it through your SoFi Checking and Savings, and you're trading. Transfer times and requirements may vary.

Sponsored by SoFi

The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended as financial or investment advice. All investments carry some degree of risk.

SoFi’s Disclosures:

SoFi Crypto products and services are offered by SoFi Bank, N.A., a national bank regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency