Japan’s stablecoin ecosystem is entering a new phase as real-world payment trials begin to reach everyday retail. Convenience-store giant Lawson is preparing to test yen stablecoin payments at a Tokyo outlet, while payment processor Netstars is rolling live with a multi-stablecoin acceptance service for merchants across the country.
Lawson, one of Japan’s best-known convenience-store chains, will run a pilot in August at its Lawson Takanawa Gateway City store in Tokyo. The goal is to see whether payments in a yen-pegged stablecoin can fit smoothly into the familiar “conbini” checkout experience without disrupting staff workflows or confusing customers.
The trial is being conducted in collaboration with blockchain company HashPort and telecom operator KDDI. According to HashPort, the test will rely on the company’s non-custodial wallet, which customers will use to initiate payments. On the merchant side, payments will be processed directly through Lawson’s existing point-of-sale (POS) system, so the store does not need to set up, secure or manage crypto wallets.
A key design principle of the Lawson experiment is to shield store staff and business operators from the technical side of digital assets. The customer interacts with a wallet and stablecoin, but for the merchant, the process is intended to resemble a standard digital payment: scan items, confirm the total, accept payment, and register the sale in yen terms.
During the pilot, the companies will evaluate which parts of the checkout flow need to be adapted, how long transactions take to confirm, and how intuitive the wallet experience is for ordinary shoppers. They will also examine how easily the payments data integrates with existing back-office systems for accounting, reconciliation and inventory management.
If the results are positive, Lawson and its partners may extend the approach to more locations or add extra features, such as loyalty integrations or support for additional digital currencies. For a chain with thousands of outlets nationwide, even a small change in checkout design could affect millions of daily transactions, so the trial is a crucial proof-of-concept.
Parallel to Lawson’s in-store experiment, Japanese payment company Netstars is pushing stablecoins into the broader retail sector with a commercial product called Stablecoin Pay. Launched on a Monday, the service is now open to merchant applications and is designed to let shops and service providers accept multiple stablecoins with minimal additional hardware or training.
At launch, Stablecoin Pay supports USDC, USDT and the yen-denominated JPYC. These assets can be used over the Solana and Polygon blockchains, giving customers some choice of network. On the user side, MetaMask is supported as the initial wallet, with Netstars indicating it intends to enable more wallets and chains over time.
For merchants, one of the main selling points is the ability to keep operating purely in yen while still accepting stablecoins that are denominated in dollars. Product prices, sales records and settlements are all handled in Japanese yen, with Netstars’ system managing the conversion behind the scenes. Businesses do not need to hold digital assets or worry about managing exchange rates themselves.
Netstars has set the merchant payment fee for Stablecoin Pay at 0.98%, positioning it competitively against many traditional card and payment services. Because the system can typically run on existing payment terminals, merchants often avoid the extra hardware costs that usually accompany new payment options.
The commercial rollout follows a series of earlier pilot tests. Netstars previously trialed USDC payments at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport between January and February, and later at a trading-card shop in the city of Himeji from April. Those experiments allowed the company to observe how international travelers and niche retail customers interacted with stablecoin payments in real-world conditions.
Both the Lawson trial and the Stablecoin Pay launch are taking place against the backdrop of a carefully regulated stablecoin environment in Japan. On June 1, 2023, amendments to the Payment Services Act and related legislation came into effect, creating a dedicated legal framework for fiat-linked stablecoins in the country.
Under this framework, stablecoins that are pegged to traditional currencies, such as the yen or the dollar, fall into clearly defined regulatory categories. Businesses that intermediate stablecoin transactions – for example, by handling customer payments or distribution – must register with the Financial Services Agency and comply with associated oversight and rules.
Following these legal changes, USDC received regulatory approval for distribution in Japan in March 2025, opening the door for domestic payment companies and platforms to integrate the dollar-backed stablecoin into consumer services. In parallel, JPYC, a yen-denominated stablecoin, obtained registration as a fund transfer service provider that August and formally launched its regulated version in October.
These milestones have laid the groundwork for the kind of projects now being tested by Lawson and commercialized by Netstars. With legal clarity, companies can design products that meet compliance standards while offering customers the benefits of instant settlement, programmable payments and cross-border compatibility.
The movement from limited, location-specific pilots to more general merchant-facing services marks a critical transition. In earlier years, stablecoin experiments in Japan were often confined to closed environments or demonstration projects. Now, companies are focusing on integrations that can be scaled nationwide and, in some cases, linked to international customers and capital flows.
From a consumer perspective, the emerging use cases could make it easier for visitors and residents alike to spend digital dollars or yen at ordinary shops. A traveler holding USDC might pay at a Japanese store that internally operates only in yen, without needing to perform a separate exchange step at a counter or an ATM.
For merchants, stablecoins may reduce certain costs tied to international payments and remittances. By settling in yen while receiving funds that originate as USDC or USDT, businesses can potentially access a broader base of customers, including those in regions where stablecoins are widely used as a dollar proxy.
At the same time, the Japanese approach emphasizes risk control. Requiring registration for intermediaries and defining clear categories for fiat-linked stablecoins helps regulators monitor money flows, mitigate the risk of illicit activity and ensure that asset backing and redemption rules are properly enforced.
The experiments underway also raise important technical questions. Network selection – such as using Solana and Polygon – influences transaction finality, fees and user experience. Wallet support, starting with MetaMask, impacts how readily existing crypto users can adopt the service. For mass adoption, future solutions will likely need more user-friendly wallets and mobile integrations that hide blockchain complexity.
Another point of interest is how stablecoin payments will coexist with Japan’s extensive traditional payment ecosystem. Credit cards, transport cards, QR code payments and cash are already deeply entrenched. To gain traction, stablecoin-based options must either be cheaper, faster, more convenient, or offer new capabilities such as automated loyalty rewards, on-chain receipts or programmable discounts.
In the medium term, businesses may experiment with tying stablecoin payments to marketing and customer engagement strategies. For example, purchases made in stablecoins could trigger instant digital coupons, NFTs representing membership tiers, or on-chain records that unlock personalized offers, all while the store’s internal accounting remains in yen.
There is also a potential bridge to international e-commerce and digital services. Japanese merchants that accept USDC or USDT through regulated intermediaries could more easily sell to overseas customers who hold stablecoins, without navigating complex cross-border card arrangements or bank transfer procedures.
As these pilots and services evolve, the data collected on transaction volumes, failure rates, user behavior and integration costs will shape how quickly stablecoin payments expand. Regulators, too, will be watching how the new framework performs in practice, possibly refining rules as adoption grows.
Japan’s recent steps show that stablecoins are moving from abstract discussions about the future of money into everyday environments such as convenience stores and airport terminals. Lawson’s in-store experiment and Netstars’ Stablecoin Pay platform together illustrate how a regulated stablecoin market can begin to turn blockchain technology into practical payment tools for both consumers and businesses.