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Author: Zen, PANews
On July 1, Amber Japan was officially renamed S.BLOX.After being acquired by a subsidiary of Singapore market maker Amber Group in February 2022 and then by Quetta Web, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group, in August 2023, the company that operates the cryptocurrency trading service platform “WhaleFin” officially started after being acquired by a subsidiary of Singapore market maker Amber Group and subsequently by Quetta Web, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group in August 2023.Become a part of the Sony Group.
Sony, which aims to “touch the world with the power of creativity and technology”, covers “touching people” game and network service services, music, film and television, and “connecting people” entertainment, technology and service services, and images and communications.and “support people” medical and financial services.In order to highlight the functions of this group’s major industries covering financial services, games and entertainment, Sony was renamed “Sony Group Corporation” in April 2021, which was the first name to be renamed in more than 60 years.
Among all the businesses, Sony’s three major entertainment businesses, including gaming and network service, music and film and television, have developed rapidly in the past decade.In fiscal year 2021, their overall operating income exceeded half of Sony Group’s consolidated operating income for the first time, and their overall operating profit accounted for two-thirds of the group’s consolidated profit.With the development and iteration of blockchain technology, especially the rise of meta-universe and NFTs closely related to entertainment products, Sony has also begun to carefully explore and expand into the Web3 field.
The meta universe
As a hot word in the technology circle, the concept of “metauniverse” begins to enter the vision of many industry companies in 2021.As an entertainment giant, Sony is no exception.In its corporate strategy for fiscal 2022, Sony expects growth in the metaverse, planning to create new entertainment experiences in the field.Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida also revealed that the Metauniverse is also a social space and a real-time cyberspace where games, music, movies and anime intersect, and is interested in launching more products with Metauniverse experience for users.
After aiming at the popular meta-universe track at that time, Sony quickly made a move.First, in February 2022, we signed a three-year cooperation agreement with Premier League champion Manchester City to jointly start creating the world’s first meta-universe football stadium.It was later disclosed in April that KIRKBI, the family investment company behind Lego, each invested $1 billion, investing a total of $2 billion in Epic Games, and betting heavily in the Metaverse.At the end of the same year, Sony acquired Beyond Sports, an AI-based data analytics and visualization company that is positioned as a metaverse sports portal to provide real-time digital sports engagement solutions for alliances, broadcasters, brands and ultimate consumers, and from traditional mediaEven the meta-universe communication provides sports content.
NFT
The industry has never had a unified conclusion on what the metaverse is and which technologies fall into this conceptual category.In the future of the metaverse that many people portray, NFTs with interoperability and digital asset attributes are one of the essential elements, and they believe that this technology can bring true digital ownership, economic activities and social interaction to the metaverse.In addition, in the visible future, NFT technology has a wide range of application prospects in entertainment products such as games, music, film and television.Therefore, Sony has been interested in the NFT track since 2022.
In April 2022, Sony’s subsidiary Sony Network Communications established an NFT business in Singapore. The company is a joint venture between Sony and software development company Sun Asterisk, and the investment ratio of Sony Network Communications is 70%.The newly established company aims to maximize value for customers, creators and end users by leveraging NFT technology in Web3.According to the new company’s website, its businesses include “NFT Business Strategic Planning Support”, “NFT Issuance Support”, “NFT Issuance Support”, “NFT Game Development Support” and “NFT Promotion Support”.
Sony Music, another section of Sony, has begun to explore the application of NFT technology at least in 2021, and thus participated in the NFT market MakersPlace Series A round of financing totaling US$30 million.In 2022, it first reached a cooperation with Solana-based NFT platform Snowcrash (which has been transformed into a music production platform that utilizes artificial intelligence), and stated that it plans to launch a series of NFTs for legendary musicians such as Bob Dylan; and then established the Greater China branch of RCA Records, to explore opportunities in streaming media, NFT and metaverse, signed singers Jiaer Wang and Liling Huang; submitted NFT-related trademark applications for Columbia Records’ logo, and planned to use their trademarks for NFT-supported media, music and podcast production,Artist management and music distribution services, etc.
In terms of gaming, Sony focuses on developing NFT-related patents. The published patents include “Tracking the Only Digital Assets in the Game with Tokens on a Distributed Ledger” and “NFTs for Transfer and Use Digital Assets between Game Platforms” and “, The former describes systems and technologies that can be used to track digital assets between different hardware platforms and works of different publishers, and the latter explores a method of using and trading NFTs across platforms.Sony also said it will build an NFT and blockchain system that can be applied to the PlayStation (PS) platform ecosystem.
Infrastructure
Entering 2023, Sony seems no longer satisfied with the development of NFT technology only, further expanding its business scope in the blockchain and Web3 industries.
In early 2023, Sony Network Communication, a business unit under Sony Group, cooperated with Astar Network, a multi-chain smart contract network, to launch a Web3 incubation program for projects focusing on NFT and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), which will be held from March to June.The shortlisted projects will likely be considered for investment by Sony Network Communications.The incubation program is organized by Singapore-based Startale Labs, a development company for Astar Network and was founded by Astar CEO Sota Watanabe.
However, after the Web3 incubation plan was completed, the organizer Startale Labs clearly obtained a $3.5 million investment in Sony Network Communications.In September of the same year, the two sides further deepened their cooperation and established a joint venture subsidiary “Sony Network Communications Labs Pte. Ltd.” The new company will focus on the research and development of blockchain technology.Sota Watanabe said that the new joint venture subsidiary will promote the development of Sony Chain, which has the potential to surpass Coinbase’s previously released Layer2 network Base.
Earlier this year, Startale Labs raised $3.5 million in subsequent rounds of financing, with investors including UVM Signum Blockchain Fund, Sony Network Communications and Samsung Next Ventures, with a valuation of $63.5 million after financing.In addition, according to Singapore’s business information platform BIZFILE, Sony Network Communications’ shares in Startale Labs have been transferred to Sony Group, which to some extent symbolizes that blockchain has taken another step forward in Sony’s business strategy.
finance
In 2024, Sony began to expand its financial services to the cryptocurrency industry.
In March this year, Sony Bank AG, a subsidiary of Sony Financial Group, announced that it plans to release “Sony Bank CONNECT” in the summer of 2024.This new smartphone app, designed to provide privileges to digital securities and NFT holders, is designed to allow any user to access exciting experiences with simple and secure confidence.The application will be connected to the market “SNFT” operated by SNFT Co., Ltd. where users can display and enjoy the NFT they hold in SNFT.
With the launch of the product, Sony plans to provide digital content to customers who participate in past activities and obtain NFTs, purchase specific digital securities, or respond to questionnaires.In addition, they are developing a blockchain-based wallet and plan to continue to expand functionality based on customer feedback after release.Sony Bank said, “Sony Bank CONNECT will continue to expand its functions in accordance with customer needs after its release, and contribute to the future development of Japan’s web3 entertainment field.”
In addition, Sony Bank has begun proof of concept in April this year and plans to issue stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies.The trial will be conducted on the Polygon blockchain.It is reported that due to the advantages of lower payment and remittance fees, Sony is exploring the use of stablecoins to promote the company’s intellectual property rights in the gaming and sports fields.Sony’s stablecoin trial will assess any legal issues related to the transfer of yen-backed stablecoins, which are expected to last for months.The development will be entrusted to Belgium-based blockchain company SettleMint.
The latest developments in cryptocurrency and financial business are that Amber Japan mentioned at the beginning was acquired by Sony and renamed S.BLOX this month.Its future plans to rectify or optimize include: UI screen redesign, new application releases, supported currency and features expansion.
Since 2021, Sony has been continuously expanding its boundaries for Web3 exploration, from the metaverse and NFT, to building infrastructure public chains, and then accessing cryptocurrencies.For large entertainment groups like Sony, prudently integrating emerging technologies into their business segments will neither be too radical to lead to excessive risks nor be left behind because of being too conservative.This inclusive attitude towards emerging technologies may be the key to its ability to last for sixty years.
