Sony Bank to launch US stablecoin for games and anime: report

Sony Bank is planning to issue a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin in the United States as early as the fiscal year of 2026, sources familiar with the matter told Nikkei.

The Sony Financial Group subsidiary is reportedly looking to establish a U.S.-based unit to operate the stablecoin business. It has already applied for a U.S. banking license in October. Sony Bank also partnered with U.S.-based stablecoin issuer Bastion, and will use Bastion's infrastructure for the project.

Sony envisions the stablecoin being used by U.S. customers to pay for video games, anime, subscriptions and other content within its ecosystem, replacing or supplementing credit-card payments and reducing associated transaction fees, according to Nikkei.

This effort may tie in Sony's U.S. sales, which reportedly accounted for over 30% of the group's external sales in the last fiscal year, with the growing U.S. dollar stablecoin market that has reached a total capitalization of over $291 billion.

In January, the group's Sony Block Solutions Labs launched its Ethereum Layer 2 Soneium on the mainnet, with a goal of becoming the main blockchain ecosystem for content creators, fans and communities.

Japan itself has been making bigger efforts to establish its own Japanese yen-pegged stablecoin market. Its financial authorities have recently approved local project JPYC to launch as its first yen stablecoin, while supporting a joint yen-stablecoin project involving three major banks.