JPYC, First Yen-pegged Stablecoin Launched In Japan, As Zelle Explores Stablecoin Rails For Global Payments

JPYC Inc. launched JPYC, the world's first regulated yen-pegged stablecoin, on Monday, marking a significant milestone in Japan's digital finance evolution and introducing a yen-based alternative to the dollar-dominated stablecoin market.

The token is fully backed by Japanese government bonds (JGBs) and domestic bank deposits, operates under a strict regulatory framework granted by Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA), and is designed for fast, low-cost domestic and cross-border transactions.

JPYC was officially the first stablecoin issued under Japan's revised Payment Services Act, which mandates licensing, reserve transparency, and strict oversight  JPYC Inc. holds a funds-transfer service provider license from the FSA, a crucial requirement for its operation.

Each JPYC token is pegged 1:1 to the Japanese yen and fully backed by a conservative mix of yen-denominated bank deposits and JGBs, ensuring stability and transparency. The company has confirmed that total reserves will exceed 101% of the total circulation, and aim for ¥10 trillion in circulation within three years, supported by integrations from major banks like Mitsubishi UFJ and firms for payments and enterprise applications.

JPYC is available on major smart-contract networks including Ethereum, Avalanche, and Polygon, enabling interoperability and liquidity for wallets, exchanges, and DeFi platforms. Users can exchange yen for JPYC and redeem JPYC for yen 1:1 through the JPYC EX platform or approved banking partners.

To encourage adoption, JPYC will not charge transaction fees for at least the first year, with revenue expected to come from interest earned on the JGBs held in reserve. The company aims to issue approximately ¥1 trillion (about $6.8 billion) in the first three years, with a long-term goal of reaching ¥10 trillion ($66 billion) in circulation. The stablecoin is intended to serve as a tool for international settlements, corporate transactions, and to bridge traditional banking with blockchain-based payment systems.

JPYC's introduction provides a regulated, non-dollar alternative in the global stablecoin market, which has been dominated by dollar-pegged assets like USDT and USDC. It also signals a broader shift towards multi-currency digital assets and could modestly boost the global role of the Japanese yen.

The launch coincides with major Japanese banks planning to collaborate on stablecoin infrastructure, potentially integrating with tokens like JPYC.

This comes days after Early Warning Services (EWS), the parent company of the U.S. peer-to-peer payment network Zelle, announced a strategic initiative to leverage stablecoin technology for cross-border transactions, marking a significant expansion of its $1 trillion domestic payments network into the global market.

EWS announced it is beginning the work to develop a new service that will use stablecoins to facilitate faster, cheaper, and more reliable cross-border money transfers for Zelle users. The goal is to leverage the existing trust and user base of Zelle, which processed over $1 trillion in transactions in 2024 and serves more than 150 million users, to solve the persistent problems of high cost and slow speed associated with traditional international remittances.

The plan involves using stablecoins—digital tokens pegged 1-to-1 to fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar—on modern blockchain networks to enable near-instant settlement, potentially reducing transaction times from days to minutes or seconds. Two models are under discussion: partnering with an existing, regulated stablecoin issuer (like USD1 or USDC) for backend settlement, or EWS issuing its own proprietary stablecoin, which would give the banking consortium full control over governance but also expose it to stricter reserve and disclosure requirements.

This move, aimed at bringing the speed, reliability, and convenience of domestic Zelle transfers to international money movement, is enabled by the recent passage of the U.S. GENIUS Act ("Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act"), which provides a comprehensive federal regulatory framework for stablecoin issuers.

GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025 by President Donald Trump, establishes a federal framework that allows both banks and registered nonbank firms to issue and use stablecoins, provided they maintain one-to-one reserves in cash or U.S. Treasuries and undergo regular audits, giving conservative financial institutions the regulatory clarity needed to proceed.

The EWS announcement, made on October 24, 2025, signals a major step by a consortium of America's largest banks—including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo—into the digital asset space.

Zelle's entry into the global remittance market, valued at over $800 billion, positions it as a direct competitor to established players like Western Union, Wise, and PayPal, as well as crypto-native firms.

The stablecoin market itself is worth over $312 billion and is projected to grow to $360 billion by early next year. This move follows a broader trend as legacy fintechs like PayPal and Wise accelerate their own stablecoin strategies.