Japan's top yen stablecoin falls short of its target in a disappointing first year

Japan's JPYC stablecoin has fallen well short of expectations in its first year, reaching just a quarter of its issuer's circulation target despite a string of corporate partnerships.

“Frankly, I don’t think it’s growing,” CEO Noritaka Okabe told NADA NEWS in an interview, acknowledging that the yen-backed token had failed to gain the traction the company expected. He said trading volume was “not bad,” but wasn’t satisfied with the amount in circulation.

Only 3.2 billion yen (around $20 million) was in circulation as of Oct. 23, compared with cumulative issuance of 12.1 billion yen, Nikkei reported. That data is near the $20.85 million DeFiLlama shows, and reflects tokens that have since been redeemed, underscoring the challenge of keeping JPYC in circulation.