JPYC raises $38M Series B as AZ-COM Maruwa backs yen stablecoin

JPYC, the Tokyo issuer of Japan’s first licensed yen stablecoin, has closed a Series B extension, lifting the funding round to roughly 6 billion yen (about $38 million). 

The round includes the logistics group, AZ-COM Maruwa Holdings, coming in as a new investor. The company also plans to pay out the fees and salaries of about 2,300 people using the JPYC token.

What is JPYC?

JPYC is a digital token, launched in October 2025, that always equals one Japanese yen. It is Japan’s first registered yen stablecoin and every JPYC token is backed by real yen deposits and Japanese government bonds held in reserve.

The company has closed a Series B extension of its funding round after AZ-COM Maruwa Holdings, which runs one of Japan’s largest trucking and warehousing networks and has Amazon Japan as one of its major clients, invested about 1 billion yen ($6.3 million).

The funding round was reportedly first closed in February, when Asteria Corporation led a 1.78 billion yen raise (around $12 million) drawn mostly from corporate Japan, including BitFlyer Holdings and vehicles tied to Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance and West Japan Railway.

The second close was reportedly in April at 2.8 billion yen, taking the cumulative total to about 4.6 billion yen, with NCB Venture Capital, Metaplanet, and Sumitomo Life among the backers.

Now with the added 1 billion yen investment, the total value gained from the funding round sits at about 6 billion yen ($38 million).

Cryptopolitan previously reported that on-chain supply crossed 2 billion yen, roughly $12.36 million, in July, with a market capitalization near $16.28 million against a stated three-year target of 1 trillion yen.

Beyond just the investment, AZ-COM Maruwa Holdings plans to use JPYC to pay fees and salaries to about 2,300 business partners and individual contractors, including truck drivers.

Why? Because stablecoin payments settle faster than traditional bank transfers and cost way less. The faster payments could help attract more business partners and fix the issue of driver shortages caused by Japan’s aging workforce and tighter overtime rules.

What are Japan’s plans for the stablecoin industry?

The Japanese government is actively pushing yen stablecoins as a counterweight to dollar-pegged tokens, which dominate the roughly $315 billion stablecoin market.

Cryptopolitan recently reported that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party asked the finance minister to promote yen stablecoins as a payment rail across Asia, but lawmakers worry that dollar coins could route payments around domestic banks, cutting Japanese lenders out of cross-border flows.

JPYC’s press release revealed that the government’s July 21 economic policy package had “on-chain finance” included in the national agenda.

Japan’s three largest banks, MUFG (NYSE: MUFG), Sumitomo Mitsui, and Mizuho, have run a joint stablecoin proof-of-concept while the SBI Group officially launched its own yen stablecoin called JPYSC in June 2026.

JPYC is currently testing stablecoin payments at a Lawson convenience store location and has been accepted by some Kyoto vending machines and the okonomiyaki chain, Chibo. The company plans to use its fresh capital to expand payments, remittances, and integration with Web3 services.

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