Japan's Lawson to Pilot JPYC Yen Stablecoin Payments at Tokyo Store
Summary
- Japan's convenience store chain Lawson will begin a pilot program in early August at a Tokyo store that allows payments in the yen stablecoin JPYC.
- KDDI and HashPort are participating in the pilot as partners, and Lawson is Japan's third-largest convenience store chain with 14,697 stores.
- JPYC is pegged one-to-one with the yen and operates across multiple blockchains, with on-chain circulation surpassing 2 billion yen as it expands its presence in Japan's crypto market.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
Japan's Lawson convenience store chain will roll out a pilot program allowing customers to pay with the yen-linked stablecoin JPYC.
Nikkei reported on July 13 that Lawson plans to begin accepting JPYC in early August at its Takanawa Gateway City store in Tokyo.
KDDI, Japan's second-largest telecom carrier, and HashPort, a crypto wallet company that supports JPYC transactions, are participating in the pilot. Lawson is Japan's third-largest convenience store chain, behind 7-Eleven and FamilyMart, and operates 14,697 stores nationwide.
JPYC was launched in October 2025 as Japan's first registered yen stablecoin, after Japanese authorities introduced licensing requirements for stablecoin issuers in 2023. The token is pegged one-to-one with the yen and operates on multiple blockchains, including Avalanche, Ethereum, Polygon and Kaia. Issuer JPYC Inc. holds full reserves in yen deposits and Japanese government bonds under Japan's Payment Services Act.
JPYC recently said its on-chain circulation surpassed 2 billion yen. The company has also been broadening its presence in Japan's crypto market through joint research with Metaplanet and Progmat on digital credit using Bitcoin, stablecoins and security tokens.
Suehyeon Lee
shlee@bloomingbit.ioI'm reporter Suehyeon Lee, your Web3 Moderator.