- AZ-COM Maruwa, a major logistics company in Japan, is about to integrate the JPYC stablecoin to streamline payments to partners, including driver salaries.
Stablecoin adoption in Japan continues to scale rapidly. On Monday, reports surfaced that AZ-COM Maruwa Holdings (formerly Maruwa Unyu Kikan), a major logistics company in the country, plans to use the JPY Coin (JPYC) stablecoin as payment to its subcontractors.
AZ-COM Maruwa to Adopt JPYC Stablecoin Payments
According to Nikkei Asia, AZ-COM Maruwa has announced plans to use the yen-pegged stablecoin to compensate 2,300 logistics partners, including driver salaries. The logistics services company lists Amazon Japan among its biggest clients, making it JPYC’s largest corporate adoption to date.
AZ-COM Maruwa operates as a third-party logistics (3PL) business, offering comprehensive transport, warehousing, and delivery services. The company expects to attract more business partners by streamlining its payment rails through JPYC.
AZ-COM Maruwa also revealed that it’s committing a ¥1 billion (around $6.16 million at prevailing exchange rates) investment in JPYC.
JPYC by the Numbers
JPYC is Japan’s first fully regulated, fiat-backed stablecoin. Privately held fintech firm JPYC Inc. issues the asset, which maintains a 1:1 peg with the Japanese yen.
The stablecoin holds a market cap of around $16 million to $20 million. Meanwhile, it has a self-reported circulating supply of 2.14 billion tokens.
The AZ-COM Maruwa milestone comes hot on the heels of JPYC’s pilot integration with Lawson’s POS (Point of Sale) system at the convenience store’s Takanawa Gateway City chain in Minato Ward, Tokyo.
Lawson’s experiment aims to evaluate the real-world use case of the JPYC in POS payments. It aligns with the convenience store chain’s plan to roll out the model across its approximately 14,700 stores in Japan if the pilot is successful.
Fresh From the Sony Bank and JPYC Deal
Noritake Okabe, CEO of JPYC Inc., stated that their company launched JPYC in response to society’s rapid digitization. He believes the JPYC is well-positioned as a settlement layer in the next evolution of finance, including metaverse transactions.
In addition to the AZ-Com Maruwa and Lawson deals, JPYC has partnered with Sony Bank Inc., a subsidiary of Sony Financial Group Inc. The collaboration seeks to simplify client onboarding to the yen-backed stablecoin. The two have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to allow bank customers to seamlessly convert deposits into the stablecoin without leaving the banking interface.
BlockBloom Inc., Sony Bank’s Web3-focused subsidiary, takes center stage in creating the framework for the financial institution’s JPYC integration. Furthermore, it was tasked with designing the platform’s user interface.
