Sony Bank wins conditional OCC approval for dollar stablecoin trust

Sony Bank has received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to create a national trust bank tied to a future dollar-backed stablecoin. For everyday investors, the move shows how major consumer brands are testing stablecoins as payment rails, not just crypto trading tools.

The Japanese lender said in a July 6 statement that it plans to form a wholly owned subsidiary called Connectia Trust this month with $40 million in capital. The new entity would issue and manage a U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin, according to Sony Bank.

A stablecoin is a crypto token designed to track the value of another asset, usually a currency such as the U.S. dollar. In this case, Sony Bank’s planned token would be pegged to the dollar and overseen through a federally chartered trust structure, if the company satisfies the OCC’s remaining requirements.

The approval is not a green light to start operations. Sony Bank said Connectia Trust is expected to begin business in 2027, subject to final regulatory clearance. The bank has not yet named a representative for the trust.

Payments are the target

Sony Bank has framed the trust as part of a longer-term base for Sony Financial Group’s digital-asset business. The practical goal is payments inside Sony’s consumer ecosystem.

Sony Bank previously told Nikkei that it wants U.S. customers to use the token to buy digital content, including video games, anime and subscriptions. The bank’s stated reason is to reduce the costs tied to card payments.

Sony’s entertainment reach includes PlayStation and the anime streaming service Crunchyroll. No major Sony franchise has been publicly tied to the stablecoin plan, according to the report.

The U.S. is central to the plan because of the GENIUS Act, a federal stablecoin law passed last year. The law set rules for reserves and disclosures for dollar-pegged tokens, giving issuers a clearer path for launching stablecoins under U.S. oversight.

Sony has also been building around blockchain infrastructure. The company launched Soneium, an Ethereum layer-2 network, in early 2025. A layer-2 network is a system built on top of a blockchain to process activity more efficiently. Sony’s blockchain partner Startale later introduced a separate dollar stablecoin on Soneium, according to Decrypt.

For Sony Bank’s own planned token, infrastructure firm Bastion has been selected to handle issuance, reserve management and custody, according to the report.

Why the charter matters

A national trust charter can let a company custody assets, oversee reserves and issue stablecoins under federal supervision. It does not allow the firm to take cash deposits or make loans, which separates it from a full-service bank.

Sony is entering a busy and politically sensitive queue. The OCC conditionally approved applications in December from Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos, according to Decrypt. World Liberty Financial, which has ties to President Donald Trump, has also applied for an OCC trust bank charter.

The push has drawn opposition from traditional banking groups. The Independent Community Bankers of America asked the OCC in November to reject Sony Bank’s Connectia Trust application, arguing that the structure would allow Sony to issue stablecoin products similar to deposits without following the same insurance and regulatory rules that apply to community banks.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, has also criticized the OCC’s crypto charter approvals, arguing that some firms do not qualify under the National Bank Act. The Digital Chamber, a crypto industry trade group, disputed that view in May, with CEO Cody Carbone saying the criticism misread the law and the OCC’s charter authority.

For now, Connectia Trust remains a proposed business. Sony Bank still has to meet the OCC’s conditions before its stablecoin can launch, while the broader stablecoin market already exceeds $308 billion in market value, according to CoinGecko.

This story draws on original reporting from Decrypt.