Japanese electronics giant Sony Group has announced that it has acquired the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Amber Japan, a subsidiary of Singaporean market maker Amber Group, for billions of yen. The exchange will be renamed S.BLOX and will further advance its collaboration with Sony Group in the future.
Amber Group is well-known for its cryptocurrency market-making services and its investors include Temasek, Sequoia China, Pantera, Tiger Global Management, Coinbase, and others. The group has previously launched the all-in-one digital asset management platform called WhaleFin. However, after FTX’s collapse in 2022, Amber Group faced financial difficulties and was suspected of engaging in a distributed debt-to-equity conversion.
After the acquisition, Yijin Li has resigned as the representative of Amber Japan, and Jun Watanabe, from Sony Network Communications Inc., has been appointed as the representative of the company after the acquisition of Amber Japan.
Amber Japan, which operates WhaleFin, has also announced today that it will be renamed S.BLOX Co., Ltd. and will further advance its collaboration with Sony Group. WhaleFin will undergo updates, including a redesign of the UI interface, the launch of new applications, and plans to expand support for various cryptocurrencies and functionalities.
According to the statement, S.BLOX Co., Ltd. was fully acquired by Quetta Web Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group, in August 2023. It will continue to operate as a cryptocurrency asset trading service and, as a member of Sony Group, will collaborate with various businesses within the group to create new added value in cryptocurrency asset trading services.
Prior to the acquisition of S.BLOX Co., Ltd., Sony had been exploring the use of NFTs and blockchain in gaming for the past few years. Having its own exchange is a significant milestone. In March last year, Sony submitted a patent application for a “NFT framework for transferring and using digital assets between game platforms.” The patent outlines a system that allows for cross-platform use of NFTs, including limited use of NFTs in-game quests and rewarding players with NFTs.
It remains to be seen how Sony will apply blockchain technology in future games and platforms, but it is clear that Sony is actively exploring innovative ways to enhance the gaming experience for users.