Sony Shocks Wall Street: Tech Giant Seeks U.S. Bank License to Issue Its Own Stablecoin

Sony has taken Wall Street by surprise after its banking division, Sony Bank, filed an application with the ￰1￱ of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national crypto bank under its subsidiary “Connectia Trust.” The move positions the Japanese tech giant to become one of the first major global corporations to issue a U. S. dollar–backed stablecoin through a federally regulated ￰2￱ application outlines plans to issue a U. S.

dollar-pegged stablecoin, maintain the reserve assets backing it, and provide digital asset custody and management ￰3￱ filing places Sony alongside an elite list of firms , including Coinbase , Circle , Paxos , Stripe, and Ripple , currently awaiting OCC approval to operate as national digital banks.) July 11, 2025 The OCC has received over 15 applications from fintech and crypto entities seeking trust charters, a sign of renewed regulatory openness under OCC chief Jonathan Gould, a former blockchain executive confirmed earlier this year . Gould, who previously served as chief legal officer at Bitfury, has publicly emphasized that the OCC “does not impose blanket barriers” to banks engaged in digital asset ￰4￱ confirmation marked a policy shift: in May, the OCC issued new guidance explicitly allowing national banks to buy, sell, and custody cryptocurrencies on behalf of clients, provided they meet safety and risk management ￰5￱ change has transformed the OCC into a more crypto-friendly regulator under the Trump administration , following several years of ￰6￱ OCC clears the way for banks to handle customer-held crypto, buy and sell assets, and outsource custody services to third parties. #Banking #DigitalAssets ￰0￱ — ￰7￱ (@cryptonews) May 8, 2025 Notably, the agency recently approved Erebor Bank for conditional national status, showing a willingness to back digital-first institutions once ￰8￱ Sony’s Connectia Trust Redefine How Big Tech Enters Crypto Banking?

The regulation clarity has sparked a surge of new OCC applications from financial and tech firms hoping to capitalize on what has become one of crypto’s most lucrative ￰9￱ total stablecoin market capitalization now exceeds $300 billion, dominated by Tether (USDT) and Circle’s USD Coin (USDC), according to DefiLlama.