Sony Advances US Trust Plans as More Financial Firms Join Stablecoin Race

Sony Bank's board approved on 6 Jul the establishment of Connectia Trust, National Association, a wholly owned US subsidiary. The announcement followed preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on 2 Jul – one of the steps required before it can begin operations. The OCC is a federal bureau of the US Department of the Treasury that charters and regulates national banks. 

"The establishment of this trust subsidiary is intended to contribute to the development of a medium‑ to long‑term business foundation for the Sony Financial Group's digital asset businesses," Sony Bank said in the announcement. 

The new trust company is being established to support Sony Bank's planned US dollar stablecoin business. 

Stablecoins are crypto tokens whose value is tied to assets such as the US dollar, making them less volatile than other digital assets. Originally used mainly for crypto trading, they are increasingly being issued by traditional finance firms for payments and moving money across borders.

The market has grown to more than $311bn, according to DeFiLlama, as both traditional and crypto firms are racing to launch dollar-backed tokens. Tether's USDT remains the world's largest stablecoin, accounting for more than 59% of the market with a capitalization of about $184bn.

Why a US Trust Bank?

Sony has previously expressed interest in using stablecoins for payments across its digital ecosystem, including games, anime and subscription services.

Unlike traditional banks, national trust banks can hold customer assets but usually cannot take deposits or make loans. The structure has become more popular with companies looking to issue stablecoins because it places them under federal oversight from the OCC instead of relying only on state-by-state licences.

Connectia Trust cannot begin business activities, including issuing stablecoins, until it receives all required approvals and authorizations, including final approval from the OCC.  Sony Bank said it expects the trust to be established in July with $40mn in capital (or about JPY6.4bn) and that it will be wholly owned. The company said additional capital could be added over time depending on financial needs.

Debate over trust charters

The move comes amid growing scrutiny of the trust bank model in the US. Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a letter to Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould in May that some crypto companies were using such charters to conduct bank-like activities without facing the same regulatory requirements as traditional banks.

"Despite the clear legal distinction between national trust companies and full-service national banks, the OCC has recently approved at least nine national trust company charters–with several more applications pending–for companies that look like crypto banks, not trust companies," the senator wrote. "Many of the business plans do not include specific fiduciary trust activities and none imply that bona fide fiduciary trust activities would be the primary business of the trust company."

The senator's remarks came a few months after the OCC in December 2025 granted conditional approval for national trust bank charters to several firms such as Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos.

"New entrants into the federal banking sector are good for consumers, the banking industry and the economy," Gould said at the time. "They provide access to new products, services and sources of credit to consumers, and ensure a dynamic, competitive and diverse banking system."

Growing push into stablecoins

Sony's move follows a growing number of financial and crypto companies expanding into stablecoins following the passage of the GENIUS Act in July 2025, which established the first federal regulatory framework for stablecoins in the US. 

Last month, Open Standard announced it planned to launch Open USD (OUSD), a dollar-pegged stablecoin that would be backed by more than 140 companies, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, BNY, Coinbase and Google. Unlike some other stablecoins, the interest earned on OUSD's reserves is expected to be returned to participating partners rather than retained by the issuer.

Sony has also been building the infrastructure for its broader digital asset strategy. In December 2025, Sony Bank partnered with stablecoin infrastructure company Bastion to support its stablecoin-related plans. Earlier that year, Sony launched its Ethereum Layer 2 network, Soneium, which has a total value locked (TVL) of over $7mn, per DeFiLlama.