Sony Bank will launch a stablecoin pegged to the yen on Soneium

Soneium, layer-2 di Ethereum, pre-announced on August 23 by technology giant Sony, has revealed that in the future it will launch a stablecoin pegged to the yen thanks to the subsidiary Sony Bank.

The new blockchain, currently in the testnet phase under the name “Minato“, will likely be introduced in Mainnet in the first quarter of 2025.

The debut of a Japanese stablecoin could prompt several other web3 providers to invest in strengthening this particular market niche, in a context where the US dollar predominately rules.

Let’s see all the details below.

Sony and the planned launch of Ethereum layer-2 Soneium: airdrop coming?

On August 23, Japanese multinational Sony announced the upcoming launch of the Ethereum layer-2 Soneiumahead of a program that sees the development of a stablecoin that mirrors the value of the yen. The Japanese tech giant, whose core business focuses on video games and entertainment, has suddenly decided to dive into the blockchain market.

In a detailed blog post, it introduced the new next-generation scalable solution, which aims to integrate developers, makers, community and end users together.

Soneium’s mission is to unite more people from different backgrounds around one interoperable infrastructure with the broad Web3 sector. In addition to maximum compatibility with external applications, the network could aim to create new types of decentralized services, which are still publicly unknown.

The partners joining Sony on this journey Astar Network, Chainlink, Alchemy, Circle and The Graph. Specifically, Astar will offer its bridging technology for transferring funds from Polkadot to Ethereum, while Chainlink will act as the oracle. Circle is committed to supporting the new stablecoin, Alchemy provides RPC support, and The Graph lends its data indexing service.

The final launch date is not yet clear, but It is believed that the mainnet will be presented in the first quarter of 2025. Many are already starting to talk about a significant crypto airdrop on the way, but at the moment only the “Minato” testnet is available to interact with Sony’s project.

There is also an incubation program for new projects, called “Soneium spark”, But no airdrop campaign has been announced.

Sony: the new stablecoin pegged to the yen in collaboration with Sony Bank

According to unofficial sources Sony is reportedly considering a new stablecoin pegged to the yen, in partnership with subsidiary Sony Bank.

In recent hours, this image has been circulating on X, explaining how the subsidiary of the Japanese giant will be committed to the development of a stable cryptocurrency. The choice to open the Japanese market to stablecoins is probably inspired by the already confirmed presence of the American company Circle (with USDC) in Soneium’s plans.

By doing this, Sony’s layer-2 will support the onboarding of both Western USD-based customers and Eastern YEN-based customers.For now it’s just an experiment (among other things, not officially confirmed) that will have to be integrated with the country’s regulatory framework.

The development of a cryptocurrency dedicated to the yen in Japan will first have to get the green light from regulatory authorities before it can land on the blockchain.

Currently, there are no clear stablecoin regulations in the country, so timelines may be longer than expected. Sony Bank’s goal seems to be to enable its users to exchange money through its own convenient, secure and economical infrastructure.

The presence of a stablecoin is therefore fundamental in the plans of the company, which focuses heavily on Tokyo’s fintech development. It is also clear how institutions’ attention to the world of digital assets in Japan is growing significantly.

Source: https://x.com/delzennejc/status/1833243834563650038

The non-USD stablecoin market

Sony, by launching a new yen-based stablecoin for its own blockchain Soneium, could become a market niche that is completely dominated by the American presence. According to data from The Block, the fiat stablecoin market on Ethereum is 99.32% controlled by the US dollar.

The remaining 0.68% of the share, with a total value of more than $600 million, is then in turn monopolized by the euro, which controls a significant 92% of it. The Australian dollar (AUD) and the British pound (GBP) play a marginal role with 4.04% and 3.09% respectively of the stablecoin market in which the USD is excluded.

There is currently little room for the yen in the panorama of cryptographic stablecoins. into which first the Americans and then the Europeans plunged headlong.

The increasing influence of many web social organizations in measuring one of the industry’s most important critical graphic assessments highlights a potential for this sector. In this regard, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, stated a few days ago that he is convinced that Japan will experience strong demand for a yen stablecoin.

According to what was said in an interview:

“People will want to hold yen-denominated stablecoins, and I think it’s only a matter of time.”

The cryptocurrency exchange Binance, which has had its own branch Binance Japan for several months, is considering a stablecoin, just like Sony Bank is currently doing. The biggest problem right now is related to the regulation of digital assetswhere the lack of a clear framework limits major investments by individuals and institutions.

However, after Sony, a giant with an annual turnover of over 3 billion dollars, made public its intentions in the crypto world. It is likely that many others will follow in his footsteps.