Japan's Lawson convenience store pilots stablecoin payments with JPYC: report

Japanese convenience store chain Lawson is reportedly launching a pilot to allow customers to pay with stablecoins.

According to a Monday report from Nikkei, Lawson's Takanawa Gateway City location in Tokyo is set to start accepting payments in yen-denominated stablecoin JPYC from early August.

This is part of a proof-of-concept trial involving KDDI, Japan's second-largest telecommunications operator, in partnership with HashPort, a crypto wallet firm that supports JPYC transactions.

Lawson is widely recognized as the third-largest convenience store chain in Japan, behind Seven-Eleven and FamilyMart. According to its website, it operates 14,697 stores in the country and reported more than 3.02 trillion yen ($18.68 billion) in net sales in the fiscal year of 2026.

JPYC launched last October as Japan's first registered yen stablecoin since local regulators imposed licensing requirements for issuers in 2023. Last week, JPYC announced that its onchain circulation has surpassed 2 billion yen ($12.36 million).

It is designed to maintain a 1:1 peg to the Japanese yen and operates on blockchains including Avalanche, Ethereum, Polygon, and Kaia. JPYC Inc. backs all issued stablecoins with 100% reserves held in yen deposits and government bonds, in compliance with Japan's Payment Services Act.

To expand its presence in the local crypto space, JPYC recently joined Metaplanet and Progmat for a joint study on digital credit utilizing bitcoin, stablecoins, and security tokens.