Why Mastercard’s $25 billion crypto expansion isn’t what it seems
SoFi Bank and Mastercard have begun settling transactions for SoFi’s debit and credit card program using SoFiUSD, a bank-issued stablecoin. The full migration is still underway, with no completion date or disclosure of current token-settled volume. SoFi projects more than $25 billion in annualized card activity once migration is complete, but that is not observed stablecoin throughput. SoFi says merchants can receive dollars in bank accounts without holding tokens; no outside merchant using the service has been named, and cost or settlement-speed improvements have not been measured. SoFiUSD is not a bank deposit and lacks FDIC and SIPC insurance; direct redemption is restricted to approved customers under separate terms. The launch adds SoFiUSD to Mastercard’s wider stablecoin settlement strategy, but its commercial scale remains unclear.
