SoFi tie-up shows stablecoins can provide alternative blockchain settlement rail

SoFi has switched its entire card program to a blockchain-based settlement mechanism that uses the company’s SoFiUSD stablecoin to settle debit and credit transactions with Mastercard. The bank expects this arrangement will process more than $25 billion in annualized transaction volume. According to a SoFi spokesperson, the move substitutes the traditional banking settlement rails with an onchain alternative but does not remove intermediaries such as card networks or banks from the overall card process. The change is designed to be invisible to consumers: cardholders continue to pay with debit and credit cards as before, while onchain settlement enables SoFi to complete settlement faster, the spokesperson said. Visa has pursued a similar path, reporting in April that its stablecoin settlement pilot had reached a $7 billion annualized run rate and adding support for nine blockchains, framing blockchain settlement as a complement to existing rails. Researchers at the Federal Reserve have noted that stablecoins could alter payments economics without necessarily displacing banks. Payments and liquidity experts interviewed by Cointelegraph echoed that view, saying the network and banks remain central to transaction routing and obligation calculation. Gravity Team co-founder Martins Benkitis warned against describing the development as disintermediation at this stage, noting networks and banks still manage core transaction functions. Industry participants say the primary onchain benefits are faster, continuous settlement and potential reductions in the amount of capital firms need to hold across locations, particularly for cross-border flows. Venture capitalist Varun Datta cautioned, however, that faster blockchain settlement does not automatically translate into lower end-to-end costs—conversion, compliance, integration and stablecoin-management expenses still apply. Experts also pointed out that local-currency liquidity and access to domestic banking systems remain necessary to complete payments in many markets, so stablecoins may accelerate value movement but do not eliminate downstream settlement requirements.