PlayStation with cryptocurrencies? Sony plans to launch a stablecoin for in-game payments

Source: PortaldoBitcoin Original Title: PlayStation with cryptocurrencies? Sony plans to launch stablecoin for in-game payments Original Link: Sony, the video game and technology giant, plans to launch a stablecoin backed by US dollars next year, which could be used to purchase games and anime within its digital ecosystem.

It is likely that this plan will apply only to the US, thanks to the approval of the GENIUS Act earlier this year—a bill that paved a clear regulatory path for the issuance of stablecoins in the country.

The news comes after the banking division of the group, Sony Bank, applied in October for a national banking license in the US. This license would allow its subsidiary, Connectia Trust, to engage in “certain specific activities involving cryptocurrencies.”

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) later urged the national trade association to block the company’s proposal, claiming it was exploiting regulatory loopholes to avoid traditional banking oversight.

According to Nikkei, Sony Bank expects that American customers will pay their subscriptions with its stablecoin across the ecosystem. This would reduce the payment fees often charged with credit cards. Sony Bank has partnered with Bastion, a stablecoin company that will provide the infrastructure for Sony’s coin.

The rapidly expanding PlayStation platform includes digital games and subscriptions for the PlayStation 5 console, as well as PC games and others that can be streamed to various devices via cloud computing.

The report does not specifically mention PlayStation, but all of Sony’s gaming efforts are operated under this brand. Sony Group also operates the popular anime streaming service Crunchyroll.

This is not the first time Sony has flirted with cryptocurrency implementations. In 2021, the company filed a US patent to create a standardized digital infrastructure that would allow players to own and transfer NFTs.

The patent application stated that these NFTs could include skins, avatars, artwork, weapons, or video game skills within the game. However, Sony has not yet implemented this functionality in the PlayStation ecosystem.

That same year, Sony also filed a patent for a system that tracked digital assets in video games using a blockchain. And in January 2025, Sony and its partner Startale Group launched the second-layer blockchain on Ethereum, Soneium, on the mainnet (mainnet).

Fans of the tech giant had hoped that Soneium would receive a series of PlayStation games. However, so far, no major Sony franchise has launched a cryptocurrency game on the network.

Instead, the platform has become a network with music NFT collections and a growing library of smaller games, and has hosted a partnership with Square Enix’s crypto game, Symbiogenesis, which has since been discontinued.