Sony Bank Receives Conditional Approval for U.S. Stablecoin Trust Bank

Sony Bank announced it received preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to create Connectia Trust, a national trust bank subsidiary in the U.S. designed to manage dollar-denominated stablecoins. This New York-based entity will be entirely owned by Sony Bank and is capitalized with $40 million to support its planned stablecoin operations.

Although this move positions Sony to enter the rapidly expanding stablecoin market—evidenced by a surge in transaction volume that reached a record $1.79 trillion recently—final operations are contingent on receiving all necessary regulatory approvals. The landscape for stablecoins is competitive, with companies like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) dominating over 99% of the existing total market capital, which stands at approximately $311 billion, according to data from DeFiLlama. The emergence of new competitors such as Stripe-owned Bridge, Paxos, and Circle Internet, which have also received similar conditional approvals, indicates a challenging entry for Sony’s venture.

“The OCC approval is conditional and does not guarantee a launch date or token issuance,” noted Sony Financial regarding the uncertain timeline for launching Connectia Trust. The company's initiative appears to align with its prior intentions to develop a stablecoin that could be utilized within its gaming and anime payment systems. The U.S. regulatory framework for stablecoins is still evolving, particularly under the recent GENIUS Act, which aims to establish comprehensive regulations for payment-focused stablecoin banks.