By partnering with US-based digital asset firm Bastion for issuance, custody and reserve management, Sony aims to eliminate the high fees and delays associated with traditional credit card processing. According to Nikkei, the stablecoin could launch as early as fiscal 2026 pending regulatory approval.
Synergies between crypto and the gaming industry have been explored in the past Steam And Microsoft First accepted Bitcoin, and Microsoft eventually brought back crypto payments more generally, including stablecoins. Additionally, Bitcoin has long had a role in the market for a variety of in-game items, from World of Warcraft gold to Counter-Strike skins.
This latest move fits into Sony’s growing blockchain footprint, which includes a potential integration with its Ethereum layer-2 network. soniumA separate venture to handle high volume transactions for gaming and media, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
However, this stablecoin push underscores a broader pattern in crypto: established players are building their own walled gardens rather than connecting to open networks.
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Bitcoin emerged in 2009 as an open, permissionless system monetary layer where anyone could join the network and create their own wallets, applications, and other integrations. Developers, merchants, and users were to unite on this new, decentralized financial protocol without any gatekeepers or trusted third parties. Instead, there is a growing rush for proprietary stablecoins, with incumbents chasing dominance. tying rope and Circle’s USDT and USDC, which together total more than $250 billion in circulation.
Sony’s move is in line with recent US legislative efforts like the Genius Act, which sets clear rules for stablecoin providers and encourages more institutional entries. The growing list of corporations preferring control over collaboration includes:
- JPMorgan Chase and Citi are issuing different forms of token deposits
- striped building its own controversial Stablecoin-centric blockchain, known as Tempo
- Trump-affiliated World Liberty Financial has released its own USD1 stable coin, at the center of which corruption allegations Linked to the pardon of a former crypto exchange CEO
- PayPal launches its PYUSD stablecoin and launches its own blockchain-esque network paypal world
- Visa and MasterCard are experimenting with stablecoin settlement over their traditional methods
- Cloudflare launches its own stable coin for AI agents
- Google Cloud is building payment infrastructure for AI agents through existing stable coins
- Klarna announces itself as the first company to issue a stablecoin on Tempo
This list barely scratches the surface, but the trend is clear. Banks, fintechs, and tech companies alike look at stable coins and related technologies A way to increase control and profits Instead, ushering in a new era of decentralized finance (DeFi).
Of course, Facebook’s (now Meta) previous effort also fits this mold. In 2019, it unveiled Libra (later called Diem), a basket-backed stablecoin aimed at spanning borders and billions of users. Regulators hit back, citing the US dollar’s dominance and money laundering risks.
David Marcus, who led Libra/Diem, comes across as a contradictory figure in the current environment. After leaving Meta, he co-founded LightSpark, a Bitcoin-focused startup emphasizing the Lightning Network (and more recently Spark) for scalable, decentralized payments. Marcus argues that only Bitcoin’s neutral, open design can deliver on the full promise of crypto, because without it, we are simply replacing one set of intermediaries for another.
And Marcus has a point. If each entity creates its own token silo, the financial landscape becomes more fragmented, thereby strengthening traditional institutions rather than disintegrating. Bitcoin provides a shared basis for transferring value, but adoption stagnates when the allure of proprietary coins, whether stablecoins or free-floating cryptocurrencies, proves too attractive. Until this changes, decentralization remains more of a marketing term than what is actually developing.
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