Japanese tech giant Sony is preparing to run a crypto exchange business through WhaleFin, which it acquired in 2023. With this, Sony will find itself in testing situations in the Web3 domain, which is not only burdened with financial risks, but also regulatory scrutiny worldwide. Sony plans to relaunch the exchange by launching a new app, dedicated to crypto exchange and trading services. It remains unclear whether WhaleFin will continue to be the name of this exchange or whether Sony will change it to mark its new beginning.
About Sony’s history and future with WhaleFin
In December 2021, Amber Group announced the launch of WhaleFin as its leading digital asset platform. In August 2023, Sony’s Quetta Web unit acquired Amber Japan, which was the parent company of Whalefin at the time. On Monday, July 1st, Amber Japan made an official announcement about rebranding to S.Blox. Along with the announcement, S.Blox also revealed that the WhaleFin crypto exchange is preparing to resume operations.
“WhaleFin is slated to be rebuilt in the future. Along with a screen redesign of the user interface, WhaleFin’s revamp will include the release of a new app to provide a more user-friendly service. After the renewal, we also plan to further expand the supported currencies and functions,” the announcement stated.
With this, the Sony group seeks to enhance its product and service offerings by integrating crypto-focused features. So far, neither Sony nor S.Blox have revealed the exact time frame by which the WhaleFin crypto exchange will resume operations.
Sony’s engagement with Web3 to date
Sony, which is a popular name in the technology industry, now wants to go deeper into the Web3 arena. Back in 2022, Sony Music Entertainment said it was exploring ways to connect artists, as well as music, with the NFT industry. At the time, Sony filed a trademark application for the Columbia Records logo, intending to use it around NFT-supporting media. That same year, Sony filed for a patent to track digital collectibles within its gaming ecosystem, via NFTs.
In 2023, Sony Network Communications partnered with the smart contract platform, Astar Network, with the goal of exploring how blockchain could solve problems that persist in the gaming, entertainment, music, and imaging industries.
Recently, Sony said that it plans to allow players to assemble all of their digital collectibles and create what is called a Super Fungible Token – attempting to carve out a new niche within the NFT sector.
Back in 2023, Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan called Web3 the ‘next form of capitalism’ and expressed his delight at Japan’s foray into the digital asset sector. Since then, crypto companies like Binance and Mercari have taken pro-crypto steps to thrive in the country.
