Lawson to accept JPYC stablecoin at Tokyo store in August

Lawson’s Takanawa Gateway City store in Tokyo will begin accepting JPYC, a yen-pegged stablecoin, for customer payments from early August. The pilot is a proof-of-concept run with telecom operator KDDI and crypto wallet provider HashPort.

The trial is limited to the Takanawa Gateway City location and will let shoppers pay in JPYC to test payment flow, wallet integration and the customer experience in a convenience store setting. HashPort will provide wallet support for JPYC transactions, and KDDI will handle infrastructure and service arrangements for the project.

JPYC launched in October as Japan’s first registered yen stablecoin after licensing requirements for issuers were introduced in 2023. The token is designed to maintain a 1:1 peg to the yen and is issued on multiple blockchains, including Avalanche, Ethereum, Polygon and Kaia.

According to JPYC Inc., all issued tokens are fully backed by reserves held in yen deposits and government bonds, in line with Japan’s Payment Services Act. Onchain circulation of JPYC has exceeded 2 billion yen.

Lawson operates 14,697 stores and reported 3.02 trillion yen in net sales in fiscal 2026, making it the country’s third-largest convenience chain. The trial will evaluate whether yen-denominated stablecoins can be used practically for everyday retail payments at a single store.

Separately, JPYC has begun collaborative research with Metaplanet and Progmat on digital credit models that combine bitcoin, stablecoins and security tokens.