Sony's Stablecoin Venture Gets Conditional Nod from OCC

Sony Bank has secured conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish Connectia Trust, a national trust bank that will issue and manage a dollar-denominated stablecoin.

The subsidiary will be established this month with $40 million in capital and is expected to begin operating in 2027, pending final approval from the OCC. Sony envisions U.S. customers using the token to pay for video games, anime, and subscriptions across its ecosystem.

Sony's push into stablecoins dovetails with its wider crypto strategy, which includes launching an Ethereum layer-2 network called Soneium in early 2025. The company has also tapped infrastructure firm Bastion to handle issuance, reserve management, and custody for the new token.