Amazon Japan Supplier AZ-Com Maruwa Adopts JPYC Yen Stablecoin for Payments

Amazon Japan Supplier AZ-Com Maruwa Adopts JPYC Yen Stablecoin for Payments

Quick Reads:

• AZ-COM Maruwa Holdings will use the JPYC stablecoin to pay roughly 2,300 partners, including subcontractors and truck drivers.
• JPYC is Japan’s first fully regulated yen-pegged stablecoin, backed 1:1 by bank deposits and government bonds.
• The company is reportedly weighing a formal partnership with JPYC’s issuer, including a possible 1 billion yen investment.
• The move follows convenience store chain Lawson’s own JPYC pilot announced just last week.

Japan’s stablecoin story just picked up serious momentum, and this time it’s coming from the logistics sector. AZ-COM Maruwa Holdings, a Tokyo-listed firm that has delivered packages for Amazon Japan since 2017, plans to start paying its network of about 2,300 business partners, including independent truck drivers and subcontractors, using the JPYC stablecoin, according to a report by Nikkei Asia.

The company, which posted 230.5 billion yen (roughly $1.4 billion) in revenue for the fiscal year ended in March, says the shift to the JPYC stablecoin is designed to speed up cash flow for drivers and small carriers at a time when Japan’s logistics industry is squeezed by labor shortages, an ageing workforce, and tighter overtime rules. Faster, near-instant, and low-cost conversions to yen could make contract driving work more attractive, the company hopes.

JPYC itself is no small experiment. Launched in October last year under Japan’s Payment Services Act, it is the country’s first fully regulated yen-pegged stablecoin, backed entirely by bank deposits and Japanese government bonds to maintain a strict 1:1 peg. Onchain circulation of the token had already crossed 2 billion yen as of last week, and AZ-COM’s rollout would mark the first large-scale corporate use of a stablecoin for everyday business operations in Japan.

Nikkei Asia also reports that AZ-COM is considering going a step further, exploring a formal business partnership with JPYC Inc., the token’s issuer, alongside a potential 1 billion yen investment. That would tie one of Amazon Japan’s key delivery partners directly into the infrastructure behind the stablecoin itself.

This isn’t happening in isolation. Just last week, convenience store giant Lawson announced it will pilot JPYC payments at its Takanawa Gateway City store in Tokyo starting in early August. Between a national retail chain and now a major B2B logistics operator, JPYC’s shift from a niche crypto product to an everyday payment rail is happening remarkably fast, all while broader cryptocurrency valuations remain stuck in a lingering bear market.

For Japan’s crypto sector, the takeaway is clear: regulated stablecoins are no longer just a talking point for fintech conferences. They’re starting to show up in paychecks.