Sony Bank has obtained conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the US federal regulator that licenses and supervises national banks, to create a wholly owned subsidiary of a US national bank called Connectia Trust, with a capitalization of $40 million.
The subsidiary’s mandate is to issue and manage a dollar-backed stablecoin, with a commercial launch planned for 2027, pending final approval from the OCC.
Approval is conditional and not final. Connectia Trust must meet all pre-opening requirements before the OCC grants the green light to actually begin operations, meaning the stablecoin itself has at least a year to go before hitting the market.
Japanese Bank Sony Gets Stablecoin Approval in the US
Sony Bank has received conditional approval from the OCC to establish a national trust bank in the United States.
The lender plans to launch Connectia Trust with $40 million in capital this month. The unit aims to issue a dollar-backed stablecoin,… pic.twitter.com/8CFJmx5yBh
– BSCN (@BSCNews) July 9, 2026
Stablecoin News: What Connectia Trust is designed for
In a statement dated July 6, Sony Bank announced plans to establish Connectia Trust this month. The unit will issue and manage a dollar-denominated stablecoin, a digital token pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, designed to function as a payment rail within Sony’s consumer ecosystem.
Sony Bank, part of Sony Financial Group, previously told Nikkei that it envisions U.S. customers using the stablecoin to pay for video games, anime, subscriptions and other digital content on Sony’s broader platform.
This framework positions it less as a financial product competing on liquidity metrics with USDC or USDT, and more as a settlement layer within the ecosystem tied to one of the world’s largest entertainment brands.
“The establishment of this fiduciary subsidiary aims to contribute to the development of a medium- and long-term commercial base for Sony Financial Group’s digital assets activities,” Sony Bank said in its statement.
As a national trust bank, Connectia Trust will be able to hold its clients’ assets but will not be authorized to accept cash deposits or make loans, a standard constraint for this category of OCC-approved institutions.
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Sony joins crowded OCC queue
(SOURCE: CoinGecko)
Sony’s move is part of a broader pattern of crypto regulation. The OCC has conditionally approved Ripple, Circle, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos for national trust bank charters in 2025. Sony’s Connectia Trust app is one of about a dozen crypto-related charter applications currently submitted to the agency.
The flurry of approvals drew strong reactions from U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who expressed concern that the OCC was “inappropriately granting” national trust charters to companies that do not qualify under the National Bank Act.
The Digital Chamber, representing more than 250 crypto-related entities, responded in May 2026, with CEO Cody Carbone calling Warren’s language a misreading of the law and the long-standing authority of the OCC charter.
Sony is not the only major financial institution navigating regulated digital asset infrastructure through existing banking frameworks. HSBC’s Orion tokenized custody platform illustrates how traditional banks are following similar regulatory pathways to integrate digital currencies into supervised structures.
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What comes next
Sony Bank has not yet appointed a representative for Connectia Trust. The OCC’s final approval and conditions attached thereto will determine the precise scope of what the branch will be able to offer when it eventually opens.
The outcome of parallel applications from companies like Coinbase and Paxos will also set a benchmark for the extent to which the OCC is prepared to expand its stablecoin-centric national trust banking framework.
For Sony, the 2027 timeline gives the stablecoin market and U.S. crypto regulation more broadly time to mature before Connectia Trust begins operating at scale.
Whatever happens next, one thing is clear. Sony continues to dive deeper into the digital asset space, a trend that began in 2021 and continues today.
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The post Sony Approved the Launch of Sony Stablecoin appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
