(Kitco News) – Global electronics giant Sony continues to wade deeper into the crypto waters as Amber Japan, a subsidiary of Sony Group, rebranded to S.BLOX on Monday with plans to expand its crypto trading business.
S.BLOX is based in Tokyo and is known for managing the crypto trading service WhaleFin. In August 2023, Sony Group Corporation subsidiary Quetta Web acquired WhaleFin, but with the crypto market struggling to climb out of a crypto winter, plans for the exchange were put on hold.
Now that momentum has returned to the cryptocurrency market, Sony is looking to commence with its original plans. Moving forward, S.BLOX intends to collaborate with various Sony Group businesses on crypto trading expansion efforts.
According to an official WhaleFin press release, the name change to S.BLOX accompanies plans to renew WhaleFin’s services, including overhauling its user interface and releasing new applications.
S.BLOX said the updates are intended to improve the platform’s service and make it more user-friendly as they embark on onboarding the next wave of cryptocurrency adopters amid the rising interest in the asset class.
At a higher level, the service overhaul and renewal functions as part of Sony’s expansion into the crypto market to maintain competitiveness in the industry.
The trading platform was originally established on Jan. 10, 2018, under the name DeCurrent and was acquired by the Japanese subsidiary of Singapore’s Amber Group in 2022. In 2023, reports from Bloomberg indicated that Amber Gropu was planning to sell its Japan unit due to strict regulations in the country.
That led to Quetta Web’s acquisition of the platform in 2023 amid Sony’s push to engage with the Web3 ecosystem. The financial terms of Quetta Web’s purchase were not disclosed.
The exchange is registered under the Kanto Local Finance Bureau Director No. 00016 and is a Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Associate (JVCEA) member.
According to the latest financial data, the platform has 1,708,179,531 yen (around $10.5 million) worth of working capital.
Sony is now working to restart the crypto exchange with a new app, but the exact date for rollout has not been released. The firm has made previous forays into the Web3 arena via various investments and partnerships, but this latest development marks its boldest move to engage with the cryptocurrency market.
In February of 2023, Sony Network Communications, the Japanese giant’s internet services company, announced a partnership with Singapore’s Startale Labs to work on a Web3 incubator. In June of that year, it deepened its relationship with Startale through a $3.5 million investment.
Sony has also worked to integrate blockchain technology with its flagship PlayStation gaming console and is working to incorporate non-fungible tokens with its services. This is evidenced by a patent filed by the company that outlines a system for transferring non-fungible tokens (NFTs) between different games and consoles, which it dubbed “super-fungible tokens.”
