Japan’s Sony to launch dollar‑backed stablecoin by 2026 for games, anime payments

Japanese multinational conglomerate Sony Bank is launching a dollar‑backed stablecoin in America as early as fiscal 2026, according to Nikkei.

The stablecoin will be used to pay for games, anime, and digital subscriptions across Sony’s ecosystem.“As early as fiscal 2026” is the target now, said Nikkei.

The stablecoin will also be backed by assets like government bonds to keep its value steady, and as is typical in crypto, all transfers will be low‑cost and work across time zones without delays.

Sony is planning to build a dollar stablecoin project in partnership with Bastion

Sony reportedly expects U.S. users to switch to stablecoin payments for subscriptions tied to its digital services. This matters because the U.S. made up more than 30% of Sony Group’s total external sales in the fiscal year that ended March 2025.

Sony Bank applied for a U.S. banking license in October, and it will also set up a new subsidiary to run the stablecoin business with help from Bastion, a U.S. company that already issues stablecoins.

Meanwhile, the global stablecoin market is currently worth $315.8 billion. Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC of course continue to dominate the place, with their circulating supply worth a combined $260 billion as of press time, according to data tracked by CoinMarketCap.

The Trump administration has backed stablecoins. Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, has ties to Tether. And Congress adopted a stablecoin regulatory framework, the Genius Act, earlier this year.

Standard Chartered predicts that the stablecoin market will grow to $2 trillion by 2028. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent says the market will hit $3 trillion by 2030. And since the Genius Act requires “100 per cent reserve backing with liquid assets”, this will create new demand for dollar bonds