At SoFi, we aren’t just following the crypto trend; we’re the first national chartered bank where customers can buy, sell, and hold over 25 cryptocurrencies. But how do you integrate the wild west of decentralized finance into the rigorous ecosystem of a regulated bank? We sat down with Kyle, Senior Director of Engineering on the Crypto team, to discuss building a custom crypto platform for SoFi, why he views SoFi’s scale as the ultimate sandbox, and why the hardest technical challenges are often the most rewarding.
What makes the crypto space at SoFi so technically compelling for an engineer working within Crypto?
The technology powering crypto is incredibly novel and complex, but when you layer that on top of traditional money movement systems and ever-changing regulatory environment, it becomes a massively interesting puzzle. At SoFi, we see this challenge as a huge opportunity to spearhead the next phase of finance. We’ve already built our own crypto platform from the ground up and our vision is to continue to innovate and deeply integrate crypto broadly into SoFi.
As a nationally chartered bank, SoFi operates with a level of oversight and stability that many crypto-native firms may not have. How does our infrastructure empower your engineers to build more daring or complex products?
While working within a bank means we have to be more diligent and deliberate about our disclosures and compliance, it actually allows us to build more meaningful products. While most crypto startups can move fast, they’re often searching for both users and real use cases. At SoFi, we already have over 13 million engaged members. We have the ability to build products that have an immediate, massive impact and supercharge our existing offerings. We aren't just building features; we’re building an ecosystem.
At SoFi, crypto is integrated into a one-stop shop app alongside banking, credit, and investing. What is the unique technical challenge of architecting crypto services that must live in harmony with traditional banking systems?
Crypto brings an entirely new paradigm of problems. Blockchain technology is composed of 24/7 available irreversible ledgers and smart contracts spread across a diverse set of networks. Our unique challenge is to marry those unique technical traits with traditional financial paradigms to create something useful for people’s everyday lives. As a bank already creating useful products, we’re best positioned to be that bridge between traditional and new finance.
What was it about the SoFi mission that brought you here as a candidate?
Three things: the mission, the leadership, and the scale. SoFi is genuinely focused on helping people get their money right. To do that at this scale, affecting millions of users, is a rare opportunity. When I looked at the leadership team, I saw a group that wasn't just chasing the next shiny object but was committed to operating at scale responsibly. For an engineering leader, that’s the ideal environment to innovate.