Sony Shocks Wall Street: Tech Giant Seeks U.S. Bank License to Issue Its Own Stablecoin
Sony has taken Wall Street abruptly after its banking division, Sony Bank, filed an utility with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to set up a nationwide crypto financial institution below its subsidiary “Connectia Trust.”
The transfer positions the Japanese tech big to develop into one of many first main international firms to problem a U.S. greenback–backed stablecoin via a federally regulated establishment.
The utility outlines plans to problem a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, preserve the reserve property backing it, and supply digital asset custody and administration providers.
The submitting locations Sony alongside an elite list of firms, together with Coinbase, Circle, Paxos, Stripe, and Ripple, at present awaiting OCC approval to function as nationwide digital banks.
If authorized, Sony would develop into the primary main international know-how firm to obtain a U.S. financial institution constitution particularly tied to stablecoin issuance.
The transfer exhibits how far stablecoins have advanced from a crypto area of interest to a mainstream monetary instrument, significantly after the U.S. passed the GENIUS Act, a invoice that established a unified federal framework for stablecoin issuers, requiring full backing by money or Treasuries and guaranteeing token holder redemption rights.
Is the OCC Quietly Opening the Door to a New Era of Crypto Banking?
According to Sony’s submitting, Connectia Trust plans to problem a USD-pegged stablecoin, maintain corresponding reserves in money or Treasuries, and supply digital asset custody and administration providers.
The firm stated these actions fall inside the OCC’s beforehand authorized scope of permissible nationwide financial institution operations.
“During its preliminary part, Trust Bank intends to interact in digital asset actions that the OCC has discovered permissible below current nationwide financial institution authorized authorities,” Sony Bank wrote in its utility.
“These embody the issuance of dollar-pegged stablecoins and upkeep of corresponding reserve property, non-fiduciary digital asset custody providers, and fiduciary asset administration for associates.”
So far, Anchorage Digital Bank stays the one crypto-native establishment to secure a full de novo OCC constitution, although it confronted compliance challenges that led to a temporary cease-and-desist order in 2022, later lifted this August.
The OCC, an impartial bureau of the U.S. Treasury, performs a vital function right here. It is the one regulator that may problem a nationwide financial institution constitution, permitting a agency to legally function banking actions throughout all U.S. states below one license.
An OCC constitution has develop into a prized gateway to legitimacy, granting crypto corporations entry to the Federal Reserve’s cost techniques and establishing credibility with institutional companions.
The US Senate has confirmed former crypto exec Jonathan Gould as OCC chief in a 50–45 vote, naming him the primary everlasting head since 2020.#OCC #JonathanGould https://t.co/ipM7YhaG8B
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The OCC has obtained over 15 purposes from fintech and crypto entities searching for belief charters, an indication of renewed regulatory openness below OCC chief Jonathan Gould, a former blockchain executive confirmed earlier this year.
Gould, who beforehand served as chief authorized officer at Bitfury, has publicly emphasised that the OCC “doesn’t impose blanket limitations” to banks engaged in digital asset actions.
His affirmation marked a coverage shift: in May, the OCC issued new guidance explicitly permitting nationwide banks to purchase, promote, and custody cryptocurrencies on behalf of purchasers, supplied they meet security and threat administration requirements.
That change has remodeled the OCC into a more crypto-friendly regulator under the Trump administration, following a number of years of hesitation.
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) May 8, 2025
Notably, the agency recently approved Erebor Bank for conditional nationwide standing, displaying a willingness to again digital-first establishments as soon as once more.
Could Sony’s Connectia Trust Redefine How Big Tech Enters Crypto Banking?
The regulation readability has sparked a surge of latest OCC purposes from monetary and tech corporations hoping to capitalize on what has develop into certainly one of crypto’s most profitable markets.
The whole stablecoin market capitalization now exceeds $300 billion, dominated by Tether (USDT) and Circle’s USD Coin (USDC), according to DefiLlama.
Forecasts recommend the market could drain $1 trillion from global banks by 2028, making Sony’s entry well-timed for a fast-growing phase of the digital economic system.
If authorized, Connectia Trust would be part of a brand new era of federally chartered digital asset banks.
The implications transcend finance. Sony Bank, already recognized for regular income from mortgage lending and international foreign money operations, has been increasing aggressively into digital banking.
Earlier this 12 months, it launched a next-generation banking system and the Sony Bank CONNECT app, designed to hyperlink its providers with different Sony Group platforms and Web3 infrastructure.
Analysts consider the stablecoin initiative may lay the muse for Sony’s broader ecosystem technique.
Like JPM Coin, Connectia Trust’s tokens could initially function as closed-loop settlement property, used internally for treasury transfers, cross-border funds between subsidiaries, or digital transactions inside Sony’s leisure community.
That may imply stablecoin-powered funds throughout PlayStation, Sony Music, and Sony Pictures, or on the spot settlement between Sony’s worldwide branches.
Such integration would give Sony an edge in programmable cash purposes, aligning its monetary arm with its international leisure and gaming companies, a possible first for a client tech conglomerate.
Notably, Sony has been energetic for some time within the blockchain sector. In January, Sony Group launched Soneiun, an Ethereum layer-2 community in-built partnership with Startale Group, extending its attain into decentralized infrastructure.
The firm had first teased the venture in 2023, and the chain now holds over $75.87M in whole locked worth.
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