The yen-pegged stablecoin JPYC has topped 12 billion yen in cumulative issuance and about 3 billion yen in circulation in a year since issuance. CoinPost, a blockchain outlet, reported on Oct. 28 local time that the number of accounts opened has surpassed 28,000.

JPYC is a digital asset issued by JPYC Co. It operates on four blockchains including Ethereum, Avalanche, Polygon and Kaia. More than 150 merchants, including offline stores and e-commerce, have introduced it as a payment method.

Its use cases have also expanded. Line Next's Web3 wallet Unify began handling JPYC in May, becoming the first domestic case where JPYC can be used on Line. In September, it became possible to exchange Ponta points into JPYC in a wallet inside the au Pay app, and to make payments by topping up an au Pay balance. On Oct. 6, Mynawallet announced plans to support JPYC issuance and redemption inside its app.

Its partnerships have also broadened. Sony Bank signed a basic agreement on a business tie-up in March and is reviewing a structure to allow direct top-ups from bank accounts. Asteria signed a capital and business partnership. TISI also plans to start a payment support service within the year.

Offline payment demonstrations have also taken place. In August, the Lawson Takanawa Gateway City store tested a method of making payments by having a POS read a barcode displayed in a HashPort wallet. The success of stablecoin payments through convenience store POS systems was presented as a first case in Japan, but it was limited to related parties.

It is also pushing to expand into corporate payments. AZ-COM Maruwa Holdings plans to introduce JPYC for paying outsourcing fees to about 2,300 partner companies, including individual proprietors such as truck drivers. The aim is to lower fees and increase payment frequency.

Still, securing profitability remains a challenge. Chief executive Noritaka Okabe (오카베 노리타카) said the company is currently in the red and needs to increase circulation to 50 billion yen to 100 billion yen to turn profitable. JPYC holds deposits and short-term government bonds as reserves, and plans to increase the share of government bonds to raise operating returns.

JPYC said in August that its cumulative funds raised through its Series B round reached about 6 billion yen. In April, it unveiled a concept for M2M payment infrastructure for the AI era and also staged an AI payment demonstration using a yen stablecoin at an AI and artificial intelligence expo event. It also began building a next-generation inbound payment network with Japan Tax-free aimed at a new duty-free refund system.