JPYC
First FSA-approved yen-denominated stablecoin. JPYC Inc. registered as a fund-transfer service provider on 18 August 2025 and launched the on-chain stablecoin on 27 October 2025, backed 1:1 by cash deposits and Japanese government bonds. Operates on Ethereum, Avalanche, and Polygon. The worked example of Japan's PSA stablecoin amendments effective June 2023.
Operating details
How it actually settlesIssuer model under PSA Type II fund-transfer service registration, with reserves held 1:1 in cash deposits at Japanese banks plus short-dated JGBs (the company has stated 101% reserve coverage). Tokens deployed natively on Ethereum, Avalanche, and Polygon. Mint and redeem flows route through JPYC EX, which performs My Number-based KYC and settles fiat legs via domestic bank transfer.
Circle (Series A investor, partner stablecoin programme) · Elliptic (AML and transaction monitoring) · Sony Bank (real-time JPY transfer rail) · Asteria Corporation (Series B lead) · Sumisei Innovation Fund · Hokuyo Bank · Yokohama Capital · TIS (enterprise payments integration) · ITCEN GLOBAL (Korea collaboration)
Cumulative issuance passed 1.3 billion yen by January 2026, with circulating supply around 2.63 billion tokens (roughly USD 17.1 million market cap) by February 2026 and a stated monthly growth rate near 69%. Around 13,000 direct JPYC EX accounts and over 80,000 on-chain holding addresses; the company targets a 10 trillion yen issuance balance over three years.
Registered with the FSA as a Type II Funds Transfer Service Provider on 18 August 2025, the first such licence granted to a digital currency issuer under the PSA stablecoin regime that took effect in June 2023. This is the EPI (electronic payment instrument) path, distinct from trust-bank issuance (Progmat-style) and from bank-deposit tokens like the DCJPY consortium.
The Type II licence caps single transfers at 1 million yen per transaction, constraining wholesale and large-ticket settlement use. USD-yen interoperability with USDC is aspirational rather than wired, on-ramps are mostly retail through JPYC EX, and the fraud-compensation policy implies issuer balance-sheet exposure that does not yet have a stress-test track record.
Recent news3 curated · awaiting ingestion
- CURATED2026-02-27Ledger InsightsJPYC raises $12m Series B as mainstream investors back yen stablecoin
Series B first close of 1.78 billion yen led by Asteria with regional banks (Hokuyo, Yokohama Capital) and Sumisei in the syndicate, evidence that JPYC is capitalising for distribution rather than treating launch as the finish line, and that Japanese corporates are now willing to underwrite a non-bank stablecoin issuer.
- CURATED2025-10-31Ledger InsightsJPYC stablecoin launches in Japan. Has a fraud compensation policy
Marks the operational go-live of Japan's first regulated yen stablecoin on Ethereum, Avalanche, and Polygon, with a fraud-reimbursement clause that is unusual by global stablecoin standards and signals how Japanese consumer-protection norms are bleeding into stablecoin product design.
- CURATED2025-08-18Ledger InsightsJapanese stablecoin issuer JPYC receives a license
Records the FSA registration as a Type II Funds Transfer Service Provider, the first time the PSA stablecoin path has been used in practice and the regulatory event that distinguishes JPYC from Progmat trust-based issuance and from the big-3 bank deposit-token plans.
Sunday evening Singapore time. Importance-3 items, one deep dive, what's worth watching next.