Sony’s Blockchain Partner Startale Launches Dollar Stablecoin on Soneium

Startale Group, the blockchain firm collaborating with tech conglomerate Sony on its web3 platform Soneium, has debuted a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar.

Dubbed Startale USD (USDSC), the token is intended to serve as the default digital dollar for payments, rewards, and other functions across the Soneium ecosystem, according to a press release issued on Wednesday. Soneium is an Ethereum layer-2 network, launched last year by Sony Block Solutions Labs, a joint venture between Sony Group and Startale.

The move comes as Japan steps further into the digital money trend with stablecoins, a $300 billion group of cryptocurrencies tied to fiat money, becoming increasingly viewed as a payments alternative. Regulators have already greenlit pilot projects for Japanese yen-based stablecoins from major banks MUFG, SMBC and Mizuho. Meanwhile, Sony Bank, which was spun out from the tech firm earlier this year, reportedly plans to issue its own stablecoin next year.

USDSC is built on infrastructure from M0, a startup developing modular platforms for programmable stablecoins. M0 previously partnered with MetaMask and Stripe on other stablecoin projects.

Alongside the new token, Startale is launching STAR Points, a rewards system that gives users incentives for minting or holding USDSC, completing in-app tasks, or interacting with decentralized apps via the Startale App, a mobile hub for the Soneium ecosystem.

Startale CEO Sota Watanabe said the goal is to make Web3 tools feel as familiar as mainstream apps. “It powers payments, rewards, and everyday transactions,” he said in a statement.

This stablecoin rollout follows Startale’s earlier announcement with SBI Holdings to build a round-the-clock digital asset exchange for tokenized assets, part of a broader play for a share of the nearly $19 trillion tokenization market projected by 2033.