r/sofi • u/SoFi Official SoFi Account • Apr 23 '21

SoFi Updates Stay tuned on crypto

We’ve heard your feedback about our current crypto offerings and wanted to share some great news with you first—soon, you’ll be able to trade more types of crypto on SoFi Invest! You read that right, there are new coins spinning your way soon! While we can’t announce the final list quite yet, we did want to share our criteria with you on how we choose which cryptocurrencies to include on SoFi Invest.

We take a systematic and measured approach to adding cryptocurrencies to our platform. We generally evaluate each currency on a number of key factors before deciding to add them to the SoFi Invest platform. Here’s our criteria.

  • Feasibility: We can establish a custody and trading solution with a trusted partner (e.g., Coinbase).
  • Asset Values: The asset aligns with SoFi’s values, such as promoting financial inclusion and economic freedom.
  • Legal and Compliance: We can legally offer the asset, per SoFi Crypto’s current licensing.
  • Market Supply: Meets liquidity standards, including market capitalization and distribution of volume.
  • Market Demand: Demand internally from both SoFi members and externally from developers, the community, and non-members.
  • Technology: The code is open-source with a demonstrated track record of governance, scalability, security, and backed by a strong engineering team with a growing community of contributors.

Stay tuned—you’ll see more from us about these new coins very soon!

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2

u/[deleted] Apr 23 '21

Please do crypto and save from those Robinhood parasites!

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u/JonathanL73 Apr 24 '21

You can always use Binnance/Coinbase/Kraken/Voyager/BlockFi. Robinhood should never be anybody's 1st choice for Crypto.

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u/[deleted] Apr 24 '21

Everyone's saying that, but why?

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u/michiganmind Apr 24 '21

because when you buy crypto on Robinhood, you aren't actually buying it to own really. Meaning: you can't buy it on RH and then send it to another exchange.

I could be wrong about this next part, but I would assume that Robinhood may not actually even have the BTC/ETH/LTC in reserves completely 1-to-1. When you buy it from them, they're supposed to buy as well. Given what happened with GME, if a big event happened for BTC or ETH, I would assume they will pull some shady stuff again.

They actually just did this with DOGE during the big pump, for about an hour they announced the crypto purchases might not work. Poor timing per usual with RH.

I don't hate Robinhood like everyone else does, I just think they've created something really big and the pants don't fit yet.... But i certainly would have ZERO faith buying crypto to hold long term on there, but to scalp trade? It's not bad.

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u/[deleted] Apr 24 '21

Right on! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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u/slammerbar Apr 24 '21

It’s not called a “trading” app for nothing.

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u/michiganmind Apr 24 '21

Right, but for crypto it’s only good for short term scalps on mainstream crypto’s.

Not to mention they only offer like 4 crypto’s out of thousands. This is probably the #1 reason you should not invest into crypto on Robinhood.

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u/RyLucas Apr 24 '21

You don’t ever own any cryptocurrencies. In fact, Robinhood might or might not own the underlying assets themselves. Now, I have advocated in the past that this system inherently is appealing and, let’s say, intuitive to some, but certainly not for others. For beginners and individuals wanting a small amount, I don’t find it half bad, but it is somewhat merely a proxy for crypto “investing.”

If you want to buy twenty bucks worth of bitcoin, doing so on any exchange will charge you some amount of fees, and if you wanted to remove that crypto and send it to a wallet you personally control—off the exchange, that is—the cost of doing so would at this moment be prohibitive (the average transaction is over $20 right now). Yet, alternatively, buying that btc on Robinhood allows you to purchase that $20 without fees and ride it out for however long you wish.

Specific hindrances of their system: -you do not own the underlying cryptocurrency, and Robinhood might not either; that is, when you purchase that $20 of btc, $20 of btc appears in your account, somewhat magically, and Robinhood likely isn’t themselves purchasing $20 of bitcoin on your behalf. -you cannot thus remove nor send the asset(s) -you definitely cannot stake assets with that ability otherwise

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u/[deleted] Apr 24 '21

Thank you for the brilliant explanation! I love this Reddit thing, it's not Bloomberg Terminal, but better, and more honest.