Sony may release its own stablecoin that can be used to pay for video games on PlayStation
Sony Group plans to release a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar next year that will be used to purchase games and anime in its digital ecosystem.
Sony Group plans to release a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar next year that will be used to purchase games and anime in its digital ecosystem.
This is reported by Decrypt with reference to the Japanese publication Nikkei. This system will probably initially work only in the United States, where legislation was passed at the beginning of the year that paved a clear regulatory path for the issuance of stablecoins in the country.
Sony’s banking arm, Sony Bank, applied for a U.S. national banking license in October. The license will allow its subsidiary, Connectia Trust, to engage in «certain specific cryptocurrency-related activities.»
The Independent Banking Association of America (ICBA) subsequently called on the national trade association to block Sony’s proposal, arguing that it was exploiting loopholes in the law to evade traditional banking oversight.
According to media reports, Sony Bank hopes that US customers will pay for subscriptions with stablecoins across its ecosystem. This will reduce payment fees that often arise when using credit cards. Sony Bank has reportedly already entered into a partnership agreement with Bastion, which will provide the infrastructure for Sony’s crypto.
Sony’s ecosystem includes digital games and subscriptions for the PlayStation 5 console, as well as PC games and others that can be streamed to various devices via cloud computing. The Sony Group also owns the popular anime streaming service Crunchyroll.
In 2021, Sony filed a U.S. patent application for a standardized digital infrastructure that would allow gamers to own and transfer NFTs. The application states that these NFTs could include game skins, avatars, artwork, weapons, or «video game skills.» However, Sony has yet to implement such functionality into the PlayStation ecosystem.
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