JPYC to Launch First Yen Stablecoin in Japan

JPYC, a company registered as a fund transfer service provider in Japan, has announced that it will issue the first Japanese yen stablecoin, pioneering this type of financial instrument in the country. The company revealed that JPYC will be issued on three chains: Ethereum, Avalanche, and Polygon.

JPYC to Become First Yen Stablecoin Issuer in Japan

Stablecoins are poised to take Japan by storm. JPYC, a company that has been in the prepaid payment business since 2021, reported that it has registered as a fund transfer service provider in Japan, enabling the issuance of JPYC, the first legally approved Japanese yen stablecoin.

In a press release, the company clarified that the JPYC stablecoin would be a different product from JPYC Prepaid, a limited prepaid payment method, with the former having a wider usage scope and being regulated by Japanese authorities.

The JPYC stablecoin will be exchanged 1:1 with Japanese yen, with its backing assets secured by Japanese yen instruments (deposits and government bonds). The company chose three different blockchains for issuing the currency: Ethereum, Avalanche, and Polygon.

The company highlighted that JPYC was considered an electronic payment instrument and established differences between this regulated product and “crypto assets,” noting these were “prone to constant price fluctuations, and their conversion into legal tender is not guaranteed.”

In the future, JPYC will focus on establishing an issuance and redemption service for the stablecoin and expanding the scope of its stablecoin to accommodate several use cases, including remittances, payments, and even Web3 protocols.

The company stated that it wants JPYC to be included in a “wide range of uses, regardless of whether they are corporate or individual,” intending to promote the use of JPY-denominated stablecoins both in Japan and overseas and improve their convenience.

JPYC’s representative, Noritaka Okabe, had referred to the effect that approving yen-pegged stablecoins might have on the economy before, commenting that they could increase the demand for Japanese bonds that would be used to back these instruments.

Read more: Japan’s FSA to Approve First Yen-Denominated Stablecoin, JPYC, This Autumn