The banking division filed to acquire a U.S. national banking charter in October, which would allow its subsidiary Connectia Trust to engage in crypto activities.
Stablecoin News
Startale Group launched a dollar-pegged stablecoin called Startale USD on Sony's Ethereum layer-2 network Soneium on Wednesday, aiming to serve as the primary settlement currency for payments and rewards across the electronics giant's blockchain ecosystem.
The token, abbreviated as USDSC, went live alongside STAR Points, a rewards program designed to incentivize users for minting or holding the stablecoin, providing liquidity on Uniswap, and interacting with decentralized applications through the Startale App. Startale CEO Sota Watanabe stated the goal is making Web3 tools feel as familiar as mainstream applications.
USDSC is built on infrastructure from M0, a startup developing modular platforms for programmable stablecoins that previously partnered with MetaMask and Stripe on other projects. The underlying system connects issuance, application logic, and liquidity into a single programmable framework, according to the announcement.
Soneium officially launched in January following a four-month testing period that drew over 14 million users and processed 50 million transactions. The network was developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs, a joint venture between Sony Group and Startale established last year.
The stablecoin rollout arrives as Japan advances further into digital money adoption, with regulators already approving pilot projects for yen-based stablecoins from major banks MUFG, SMBC and Mizuho. Japan's Financial Services Agency signed off on JPYC as the first fully regulated yen-backed #stablecoin in the country, while Ripple and SBI Holdings are preparing to roll out the RLUSD stablecoin early next year through SBI VC Trade.
Circle secured Japan's first approval for a dollar-pegged stablecoin in March with USDC, marking a significant milestone for international crypto firms operating in the Japanese market. Sony Bank, which was spun out from the tech firm earlier this year, reportedly plans to issue its own stablecoin next year for purchasing games and anime within its digital ecosystem.
The banking division filed to acquire a U.S. national banking charter in October, which would allow its subsidiary Connectia Trust to engage in crypto activities. Sony Bank has also partnered with stablecoin firm Bastion, which will provide stablecoin services for Sony affiliates and handle issuance, reserve management, and custody at scale.
Startale previously announced a collaboration with SBI Holdings to build a round-the-clock digital asset exchange for tokenized assets, part of a broader strategy targeting a share of the nearly $19 trillion tokenization market projected by 2033. Users can access USDSC features and STAR Points through the Startale App waitlist, which is now open for early registration.
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