Bastion CEO says major companies want to own their payment rails, not rent from Visa or Mastercard

The world’s largest companies are tired of paying rent to Visa and Mastercard. They want to own the building.

That’s the argument from Bastion CEO Nassim Eddequiouaq, whose company was named the sole stablecoin issuance provider for Sony Bank on December 1, 2025. The partnership will let Sony Bank develop a USD-backed stablecoin for use across treasury operations, in-app payments, and other functions within Sony’s sprawling ecosystem, with a planned launch in 2026 pending regulatory approval.

Why corporations want their own stablecoins

According to Eddequiouaq, enterprises want full control over their payment economics. That includes reserve yields, redemption fees, and the ability to settle transactions faster and cheaper than traditional card networks allow. A branded stablecoin essentially lets a company become its own payment processor, cutting out the middlemen who have dominated the space for decades.

Sony Bank’s stablecoin will be backed 1:1 by USD reserves managed by Bastion. Rather than Sony building compliance and reserve infrastructure from scratch, Bastion handles the plumbing.

Bastion’s playbook: infrastructure, not competition

Bastion has made a deliberate choice that separates it from most players in the stablecoin space. The company does not issue its own stablecoin. Instead, it offers white-label infrastructure covering reserve management, compliance, and transaction facilitation for enterprises that want to launch their own.

The regulatory credentials matter here too. Bastion operates under a New York Department of Financial Services limited purpose trust charter and holds additional state money transmitter licenses.

Bastion’s investor roster reinforces the strategy. The company raised additional funding in 2025 from backers including Coinbase Ventures and Sony Innovation Fund, along with prior backing from a16z crypto.

The bigger picture: corporate stablecoins as a trend

Card network interchange fees typically range from 1.5% to 3.5% per transaction, depending on the type of card and merchant category. Stablecoin transactions on modern blockchain infrastructure can be completed for pennies, with settlement happening in seconds rather than the days traditional payment networks require.

Sony’s stablecoin launch in 2026 is explicitly contingent on regulatory approval, and the global patchwork of stablecoin rules remains uneven.