Interview | Bastion’s CEO on powering Sony Bank’s stablecoin engine and the rise of enterprise digital dollars
When Sony Bank chose Bastion as its exclusive stablecoin issuance partner, it signaled something bigger than a single deal: major global corporations are no longer experimenting with digital dollars on the sidelines — they are actively building around them.
For Nassim Eddequiouaq, CEO of Bastion, the Sony partnership is not just a commercial win, but a concrete validation of a thesis he has pursued for years: that the next generation of money will be programmable, dollar‑denominated, and operated on tightly regulated, institution‑grade infrastructure that can function at global scale.
Backed by a roster of strategic investors including Sony Innovation Fund, a16z crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Samsung NEXT and Hashed, and drawing on Eddequiouaq’s past roles at Andreessen Horowitz and Facebook, Bastion is positioning itself as the financial institution sitting behind this shift. Now, as Sony Bank prepares its entry into digital assets, Eddequiouaq argues that stablecoins are moving from niche use cases to the heart of corporate finance and operations.
Below, he explains why Sony Bank is the right launch partner, how the regulatory bar is being set, and what this means for the future of programmable money inside one of the world’s largest ecosystems.
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Why Sony Bank — and why now?
What made Sony Bank the right institution for Bastion’s first major issuance partnership?
Nassim Eddequiouaq: Sony Bank, together with Sony Financial Group, is embedded in one of the largest and most diverse ecosystems on the planet. You have banking, entertainment, gaming, hardware, content, and consumer electronics all under a single umbrella. That breadth puts Sony in a uniquely strong position to roll out new financial technologies that can touch both back‑office operations and consumer experiences across the entire group.
Just as important is mindset. Sony Bank’s team is unusually forward‑looking when it comes to both financial products and infrastructure. They are not exploring digital assets for novelty; they are starting from specific business problems within the Sony ecosystem and asking where a trusted, compliant stablecoin can meaningfully improve efficiency, cost, and user experience.
Their decision to focus on a USD‑pegged stablecoin that is fully regulated, highly trusted, and clearly compliant fits directly with Bastion’s philosophy. We have always believed that stablecoin adoption at scale will be driven not by speculative excitement, but by institutions that put regulation, safety, and robust controls first. Sony Bank shares that conviction. Together, we see a path to making payments across the Sony universe cheaper, faster, and more seamless for both internal entities and end users.
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Performance, safety, and compliance: what Sony expects from Bastion
As Sony’s sole stablecoin issuance provider, what performance and compliance metrics does Bastion need to meet?
N.E.: The precise metrics are detailed in our master service agreement with Sony Bank, but the broader framework is very clear: Bastion has to operate in line with some of the most stringent regulatory standards in the world, including the New York Department of Financial Services’ Virtual Currency Guidance and, once enacted, the requirements of the US GENIUS Act.
Practically, that means several core obligations:
– Full reserve backing: The stablecoin must be backed 1:1 with US dollars or permitted fiat‑denominated assets held in reserve, so that every token corresponds to a real, highly liquid asset.
– Reliable redemption: Holders must be able to redeem their stablecoins for fiat in a timely manner, with redemptions generally processed within two business days (T+2) of a valid request.
– Robust compliance controls: Bastion is responsible for implementing and maintaining all necessary compliance procedures where required — including Know‑Your‑Customer checks, sanctions and watchlist screening, and other financial crime controls.
In essence, Sony expects that its stablecoin program will meet the same kind of prudential and compliance standards that apply to more traditional financial products. Bastion’s role is to make that level of governance compatible with the speed and programmability of digital assets.
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Global ambitions and rollout strategy
Sony has made no secret of its global ambitions in digital assets. Which markets or use cases will come online first, and why?
N.E.: Sony Bank is in the process of seeking approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to launch its stablecoin through a dedicated entity called Connectia Trust. The target timeline, assuming regulatory approval, is 2026 for the initial rollout in the United States.
The rollout strategy is deliberately phased:
1. Internal Treasury use cases first: The initial focus is on Sony’s own Treasury and internal flows — for example, optimizing liquidity between affiliates, streamlining intra‑group settlements, and reducing friction in cross‑border movements of value inside the Sony ecosystem. This approach allows Sony Bank to capture tangible efficiencies while operating within a more controlled environment.
2. Expanded retail and external use cases later: Once the infrastructure is proven and the internal rails are running smoothly, additional consumer and retail scenarios can be added where a stablecoin‑based payment rail offers clear advantages over existing systems — for speed, cost, interoperability, or user experience.
This staged approach aligns with how large enterprises typically adopt transformative financial technologies: they start by solving their own operational pain points, then progressively expose the same rails to partners and customers once the stack is battle‑tested.
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What Bastion owns in the stack — and what it does not
Which parts of the stablecoin infrastructure stack does Bastion control end‑to‑end, and which pieces are handled elsewhere?
N.E.: Bastion acts as the core engine for Sony Bank’s stablecoin initiative. We sit at the intersection of four key domains:
– Technology infrastructure: The systems that mint, burn, and track the stablecoin, along with the APIs and tools that integrate it into Sony’s products and services.
– Financial operations: The processes for issuance, redemption, reconciliation, and reporting, making sure the tokenized layer and the underlying reserves always match.
– Risk and compliance: Management of operational risk, adherence to regulatory requirements, and execution of compliance workflows.
– Reserve management: The frameworks and controls around how reserves are held, monitored, and audited, under Sony Bank’s oversight and charter once approved.
Bastion’s own New York Limited Purpose Trust Charter, Dibbs Trust, offers a flexible model to all our customers, including Sony. They can choose to issue stablecoins under their own license, with Bastion providing full‑stack infrastructure and services, or they can rely on Bastion as the licensed issuer itself. Because Bastion is regulated by NYDFS, this architecture is designed to line up with the GENIUS Act’s expected rules around licensing and the ongoing management of stablecoins.
In other words, we are not simply a technology vendor. We operate as a regulated financial institution embedded in our clients’ digital asset programs, while still giving them options for how they want to structure licensing and issuance.
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Programmability and use cases inside the Sony ecosystem
How programmable will Sony’s stablecoin be for affiliates? Will it go beyond payments into areas like supply chains, royalties, or gaming?
N.E.: The starting point is payments, because improving the convenience and efficiency of payment systems is foundational for both Sony’s internal operations and the user experience across its consumer products. Making transfers instant, lowering fees, and enabling consistent settlement across different business lines creates value from day one.
A major reason Sony Bank selected Bastion is our capability in stablecoin custody and orchestration. That means we do not just handle the token itself — we provide the tools, security models, and operational workflows that allow the stablecoin to be embedded into a very wide range of platforms and applications.
The potential use cases extend across the full Sony landscape, such as:
– Supply chain and vendor payments: Automating settlement with suppliers and partners, especially across borders, using programmable conditions (for example, releasing payment automatically when goods are scanned or delivered).
– Royalties and content payouts: Streaming micro‑royalties to artists, creators, and rights holders in near real time instead of on delayed, batch schedules, making compensation more transparent and predictable.
– Gaming and digital commerce: Powering in‑game purchases, digital collectibles, and marketplace transactions with a stable, dollar‑denominated unit of account that can move across titles and platforms, all while staying within a regulated framework.
Over time, the programmability of the stablecoin rails could also enable more advanced scenarios such as conditional payments, escrow‑like logic, or complex revenue‑sharing mechanisms — all while staying anchored to a trusted USD peg and compliance regime.
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How this changes the enterprise stablecoin playbook
Sony Bank’s move with Bastion is emblematic of a broader shift in how large institutions think about stablecoins. Early adopters tended to focus on trading, hedging, or niche Web3 applications. In contrast, Sony’s strategy is enterprise‑first: treat the stablecoin as a core financial rail, subject it to strict regulatory expectations, and deploy it where it can measurably improve operations and products.
This approach is rewriting the enterprise playbook in several ways:
– From experimentation to infrastructure: Stablecoins are no longer framed as a side project in innovation labs, but as part of the organization’s long‑term financial and technology architecture.
– From unregulated to regulated rails: Institutions are gravitating toward partners that can operate within banking‑grade regulatory regimes, under charters and guidance from top‑tier regulators.
– From isolated use cases to ecosystem thinking: Instead of one‑off pilots, companies are planning for how a single stablecoin rail can serve multiple divisions — from treasury and supply chain to consumer platforms and digital entertainment.
Bastion’s role is to provide the connective tissue that makes that shift possible, combining regulatory licensing, operational rigor, and programmable infrastructure in a way that enterprises can adopt without having to rebuild their core systems from scratch.
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Why regulatory clarity is becoming a competitive advantage
As policymakers refine stablecoin laws and guidance, the bar for institutional participation continues to rise. Requirements around reserve quality, redemption timelines, risk management, and customer protections are moving from “nice to have” to non‑negotiable.
For Bastion, this is not a constraint but an advantage. By aligning its model with regimes like NYDFS’s Virtual Currency Guidance and anticipated frameworks like the GENIUS Act, the company is positioning itself as a safe conduit for global brands that cannot afford regulatory missteps.
Sony Bank’s decision underscores a broader reality: for systemically important institutions, the winning stablecoin platform will not necessarily be the first or the flashiest — it will be the one that can demonstrate audited reserves, controlled risk, and predictable compliance outcomes at scale.
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Programmable money and the future of consumer experiences
While the initial focus is on internal and treasury use cases, Sony’s long‑term potential with a USD‑pegged stablecoin is inherently consumer‑facing. Once a regulated, programmable dollar rail is running reliably within the group, it can start to underpin new experiences that are difficult or impossible with legacy systems.
Examples could include:
– Unified wallets that let users move value seamlessly between games, streaming services, hardware purchases, and subscriptions.
– Loyalty and rewards systems that pay out in a stable digital dollar, instantly redeemable or usable across the Sony ecosystem.
– Cross‑border consumer payments where the user does not need to think about FX, intermediaries, or multi‑day settlement delays — the experience feels instant and local, even if the underlying rails are global.
In each of these scenarios, the value is not in “crypto” as speculation, but in money that is programmable, interoperable, and tightly integrated with the digital services people already use.
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The broader signal to global enterprises
Sony Bank partnering with Bastion sends a clear message to other large enterprises: the era of watching from the sidelines is ending. Companies with complex global operations, large user bases, and diverse product lines are beginning to see regulated stablecoins as a strategic asset, not a curiosity.
For those organizations, the key questions are shifting from “Should we do something with digital assets?” to “How do we build a compliant, scalable stablecoin program that actually solves business problems?” Bastion’s collaboration with Sony Bank offers an emerging template:
– Start with internal, treasury‑level use cases in a controlled environment.
– Ensure regulatory alignment and robust reserves from day one.
– Choose infrastructure that can be embedded across multiple products and regions.
– Expand outward to consumer and partner use cases once the core rails are proven.
As Eddequiouaq positions Bastion as the institution behind this new wave of programmable money, the Sony partnership stands as one of the clearest signals yet that digital dollars are moving from theory to practice at the highest levels of global enterprise.
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In that context, Sony Bank’s USD‑pegged stablecoin is more than a single product launch. It is an early example of what happens when one of the world’s most recognizable brands commits to building a regulated, programmable financial layer across its ecosystem — and trusts a specialized, institution‑grade engine like Bastion to power it.