Polygon Brings Stablecoin Payments Closer To Japan's Stores

Lawson Runs Second In-Store Stablecoin Trial

Lawson, one of Japan's largest convenience store chains, has completed its second in-store stablecoin payment test, this time at the Lawson Gate City Osaki Atrium location in Tokyo. The trial was conducted on August 17, following a preliminary run completed on August 3, and was built on Netstars' proprietary cashless payment platform, StarPay.

The experiment tested point-of-sale (POS) terminal-integrated transactions using three pegged digital assets: USDC, USDT, and JPYC. USDC and USDT were tested across Solana, Morph, and Polygon. JPYC was tested on Polygon, with MetaMask used as the compatible wallet. The focus of the test covered payment speed, user experience, and the effect on existing store operations.

Netstars StarPay and the Broader Push for Retail Adoption

Netstars launched Stablecoin Pay as a commercial payment solution designed for businesses seeking to accept digital assets. The service initially supports USDC, USDT, and the yen-denominated JPYC through the Solana and Polygon networks, with MetaMask as the supported wallet.

Merchants can use existing payment terminals in most cases and handle product pricing, sales records, and settlement in yen, even when customers pay with dollar-denominated stablecoins, removing the need to hold crypto or manage exchange rates. Netstars set the fee at 0.98% and said stores generally will not need extra hardware, though some environments may require development work.

The commercial launch follows Netstars trials involving USDC payments at Tokyo's Haneda Airport from January to February and at a trading-card store in Himeji from April.

Japan's broader stablecoin ecosystem is also maturing. On June 1, 2023, Japan introduced a dedicated framework for stablecoins when amendments to the Payment Services Act took effect, creating regulatory categories for fiat-linked stablecoins and requiring intermediary businesses to register with the Financial Services Agency. The framework was followed by regulatory approval for USDC distribution in March 2025 and by JPYC's registration as a fund transfer service provider that August, before the stablecoin was launched in October. Lawson said it will continue studying the use of stablecoins at its stores as it looks for ways to improve payment convenience for customers while assessing the technology through successive pilot programs.

Sources
FinTech Observer: NETSTARS and Lawson Partner for In-Store Stablecoin Payment Proof-of-Concept Trial
CoinTelegraph: Lawson Tests Yen Stablecoin Payments as Netstars Opens Merchant Service
Crypto.news: Japanese Retailer Lawson Adds USDC, USDT and JPYC to Stablecoin Payment Trial