Sony gets ready to launch crypto exchange in Japan with acquired Amber platform

Japan’s multi-industry conglomerate Sony is getting ready to launch a cryptocurrency exchange subsidiary by revamping local trading platform WhaleFin which it acquired last year, according to a Monday press release on PR Times.

WhaleFin has been renamed to S.BLOX Co., which plans to collaborate with Sony Group’s other businesses to generate additional value for its crypto trading services, according to the statement . 

The revamp also includes a redesign of the user interface and a new mobile app that will be easier to use, the release said. The exact launch date of S.BLOX crypto exchange has not been announced.

The crypto trading entity was initially the Japanese crypto exchange DeCurret, which was first acquired by the Japanese subsidiary of Singapore’s Amber Group in 2022. In August 2023, Sony’s wholly-owned subsidiary Quetta Web Co. acquired the platform, according to a press release from 2022.

Sony has been making efforts to expand its presence in Web3. Sony Network Communications, the conglomerate’s business division, partnered with Japanese blockchain firm Startale Labs last year to build Sony’s own public blockchain network.

Sota Watanabe, founder and CEO of Startale Labs, revealed on X on Monday that Startale’s external director is going to lead Sony’s new crypto exchange, though he did not provide further details.

The PlayStation maker also filed a patent last year for more flexible use of NFTs as in-game assets that it dubbed “super-fungible tokens.”

The Block reached out to Sony and Amber Group for further comment.