Online finance company SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI) went public amid much fanfare on June 1 by merging with blank-check company Social Capital Hedosophia Corp. V. As a result, IPOE stock disappeared and SOFI stock was publicly available for trading.

This is one of Chamath Palihapitiya’s special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), and he’s a well-known name in this space.

InvestorPlace contributor Dana Blankenhorn called Palihapitiya a “mouthy billionaire,” but I’ll be more charitable, and call him the king of SPACs.

Either way, the stock is tradable in June 2020 and I’d say it’s worth considering. Indeed, it could present a ground-floor opportunity to invest in the future of fintech.

A Brief History of SOFI Stock

Let’s rewind the clock a little bit. In October of last year, Social Capital Hedosophia Corp. V went public through an initial public offering (IPO).

The shell company was “targeting a tech business,” but investors didn’t know much more than that. As a result, IPOE stock stayed close to the $10 level for a while.

Fast-forward to Jan. 7, 2021, when Social Capital Hedosophia Corp. V announced its intention to merge with SoFi.

At that time, the financial markets were still in the thrall of SPAC mania. Consequently, traders were highly enthused about this particular reverse merger.

Undoubtedly due to the big announcement, the IPOE/SOFI stock price rocketed up to a 52-week high of $28.26 on Feb. 1.

After that, however, SPAC mania started to fade and reality started to set in.

When the merger deal was announced on Jan. 7, it was expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2021. That expectation wasn’t fulfilled, however, and it seems that some investors were disappointed.

By mid-April, the IPOE/SOFI stock price had already declined to the $16 level. But thankfully, this wasn’t the end of the story.

The Enthusiasm’s Still There

SoFi, the name of the company, is short for Social Finance. It’s a company with a bold and forward-thinking vision – and most likely, it’s one that can easily survive the downfall of SPAC mania.

It’s even possible that the financial community is already looking past the SPAC hype-and-disappointment cycle, and concentrating on SoFi’s true value proposition.

As evidence of this, note that SOFI stock closed up more than 12% on its June 1, 2021 debut.

That’s a sign, I believe, that there’s still plenty of enthusiasm surrounding this company, and the future of fintech in general.

CEO Anthony Noto declared that SoFi, which was founded in 2011, is “the only one stop shop to do all your financial service needs at one platform.”

Maybe you like Palihapitiya or maybe you don’t. Either way, people can find common ground if they’re open to the innovations to the banking experience that SoFi is trying to make.

Getting Paid Faster

In the digital age, fast access to funds is expected. Yet, sometimes it feels as if traditional banks aren’t up to speed in this regard.

To address this issue, SoFi recently announced that its SoFi Money cash-management product “will now offer members the ability to receive their direct-deposit paychecks (or other eligible direct deposits) up to two days earlier than their regularly scheduled payday.”

With so many people still struggling financially in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, SoFi is showing its responsiveness by enabling quicker access to paychecks.

Also, SoFi recently launched a new program to help address the student loan debt crisis.

With this program, “borrowers have the unique opportunity to refinance, at historically low rates, some or all of their federal student loans without making monthly or interest payments until October 2021, through SoFi.”

Again, the company is schooling traditional banks on how modern finance ought to be done.

Moreover, SoFi is courting the Millennial and Generation Z cohorts, who control a whole lot of money nowadays.

SOFI Stock: The Bottom Line

It’s not necessary anymore to think of SOFI stock as a SPAC stock. Nor do you have to attach Palihapitiya’s name to it, if you don’t want to.

Instead, you can focus on what SoFi has to offer as a fintech bellwether.

So far, it looks like the company is disrupting the banking system as we know it – and personally, I’m okay with that.

On the date of publication, David Moadel did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

David Moadel has provided compelling content – and crossed the occasional line – on behalf of Crush the Street, Market Realist, TalkMarkets, Finom Group, Benzinga, and (of course) InvestorPlace.com. He also serves as the chief analyst and market researcher for Portfolio Wealth Global and hosts the popular financial YouTube channel Looking at the Markets.