JPYC yen stablecoin hits only a quarter of its first-year target

A year after launch, Japan's leading yen stablecoin JPYC has reached only about a quarter of the circulation its issuer was aiming for, and its chief executive says so openly. "Frankly, I don't think it's growing," CEO Noritaka Okabe told NADA NEWS, as reported by CoinDesk.

The numbers

• In circulation: ¥3.2 billion (around $20 million) as of 23 October, according to Nikkei. DeFiLlama shows a similar figure, about $20.85 million.
• Issued in total: ¥12.1 billion. The gap reflects tokens that were minted and later redeemed for yen.
• Peak: circulation briefly passed ¥4.2 billion in September after South Korean exchange Upbit listed JPYC. The token traded above ¥1, traders minted new coins to arbitrage the gap, and Okabe estimates about ¥35 billion changed hands on Upbit and Uniswap in a single day before supply fell back to about ¥3 billion.

Okabe said trading volume was "not bad". The problem is the money that stays. JPYC is backed by bank deposits and Japanese government bonds, and the issuer earns interest on those reserves, so a small float means little income, the same model that drives dollar issuers, as our stablecoin explainer describes.

The ¥1 million cap

JPYC operates under Japan's Type II funds-transfer rules, which cap transfers at ¥1 million. Until May the company applied that as a daily limit on issuance; it now allows ¥1 million per request but still restricts rapid repeat requests. Okabe says the cap is the main brake on corporate demand. Software maker Asteria, which plans to hold ¥1 billion in JPYC, has had to build its position in instalments.

Partners, but little volume yet

The weak figures contrast with a growing partner list:

• AZ-COM Maruwa, a logistics group, signed an alliance in July to build payments for about 2,300 of its business partners.
• SBJ Bank and LINE NEXT agreed this month to test topping up stablecoin wallets from bank accounts; the project is still a trial.

What's next

Okabe wants circulation in the tens of billions of yen in year two, roughly ten times today's level. Much depends on regulators: the Financial Services Agency is reviewing stablecoin rules and is expected to publish a roadmap in early 2027. Meanwhile, bank-backed rivals are lining up, including the megabank yen stablecoin pilot and Shinhan and SBI's tourist payments project.