In a market dominated by U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins, there are growing signs that non-USD alternatives are beginning to gain ground. One recent example is the investment by Japan’s AZ-COM Maruwa Holdings—a logistics company whose customers include Amazon Japan—in a yen-backed stablecoin.
The company will invest ¥1 billion (approximately $6.7 million) in JPYC, a stablecoin issued by a Tokyo-based fintech backed by Circle and Metaplanet. JPYC is Japan’s first regulated yen-pegged stablecoin after being classified as an Electronic Payment Instrument under the country’s revised Payment Services Act.
One of the primary use cases will be contractor payouts. AZ-COM Maruwa works with thousands of contractors and partners who receive recurring payments, and using stablecoins could help reduce transfer fees, shorten settlement times, and automate parts of the payout process.
A Practical Use Case
While much of the discussion around stablecoins has focused on cross-border payments, payouts are emerging as another compelling enterprise use case. Freelancers, creators, and gig workers now play an increasingly integral role across industries, yet traditional payout systems often remain cumbersome and costly.
Several large platforms have already begun integrating stablecoin payouts. Meta and YouTube have introduced stablecoin payment options for creators, while DoorDash has enabled stablecoin payouts for gig workers, reflecting broader interest in faster and more flexible payment infrastructure.
A Milestone for Non-USD Stablecoins
For AZ-COM Maruwa, a logistics business with an extensive network of drivers and suppliers, stablecoin-based payouts could address several operational inefficiencies. The investment is also notable for JPYC itself: at roughly ¥1 billion, the commitment has at times approached the stablecoin’s entire circulating market value.
More broadly, the investment highlights growing momentum behind non-USD stablecoins. According to data from Visa and Dune, the market for non-USD stablecoins reached approximately $1.1 billion in February, roughly tripling over the past three years.
The report also found that these assets are seeing real-world usage across applications including cross-border payments, remittances, and commercial settlement. This suggests that adoption is extending beyond experimentation and into operational payment flows.
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