©2022 Business Next Media Corp. All Rights Reserved. No.102, Guangfu S. Rd., Da'an Dist., Taipei City 106, Taiwan
Japanese stablecoin issuer raises $4.4M in Series A, Headline Asia partner Akio: Japan might team up with Taiwan to build regional stablecoin ecosystems
Taiwan is a very important economic partner for Japan and to that extent we hope to see similar developments in Taiwan so that we can build regional stablecoin ecosystems,” said Akio Tanaka, partner of Headline Asia.
JPYC Inc., a company founded in 2019 that issues JPYC, a Japanese Yen-pegged stablecoin as a prepaid payment instrument in Japan, announced that it has raised approximately USD$ 4.4M in Series A funding round led by Headline Asia, with participation from Circle Ventures, and other Japanese and global investors.
“Stablecoins represent a key innovation to bridge the traditional economy and crypto economy. JPYC is the first legal stablecoin issued in Japan. With the help from our partner Circle, the issuer of USDC, we are working with JPYC to develop both consumer and business payment ecosystems in Japan. Taiwan is a very important economic partner for Japan and to that extent we hope to see similar developments in Taiwan so that we can build regional stable coin ecosystems,” said Akio Tanaka, partner of Headline Asia.
Circle is a company that provides peer-to-peer payments and is the principal operator of stablecoin USDC. They launched Circle Ventures fund to provide seed funding and angel capital to early-stage startups.
“JPYC represents the kind of innovation and project Circle Ventures aims to support. The team at JPYC is thinking outside the box to adhere to regulatory framework parameters while still tapping into the value that digital currency can offer the world,” says Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder and CEO of Circle.
“Headline Asia is confident that the era of Web 3.0, built on blockchain technology and the token economy, is coming. Meanwhile, we are concerned about the current situation in Japan, where individuals and institutional investors have yet to get involved in the token economy, which is dominated by cryptocurrencies,” said Akio.
Together with Circle and Infinity Ventures Crypto (IVC), which invests in crypto startups globally, Headline Asia looks forward to supporting JPYC Inc. in its adventure
Through this fundraising, JPYC Inc. aims to strengthen its position as a JPYC issuer, improve its operational and development capabilities, and acquire prepaid payment instruments for third-party businesses.
Among the new investors, Headline Asia (formerly known as Infinity Ventures), is a global venture capital firm that manages USD$ 300M in total across four funds focusing on Asia. Circle Ventures is the venture capital arm of Circle, the principal operator of USD Cin (USDC), a US dollar-pegged stablecoin.
JPYC’s Series A was led by Headline Asia, and included investments by Circle Ventures, i-nest capital, and JPYC Employee Stock Ownership Association.
©2022 Business Next Media Corp. All Rights Reserved. No.102, Guangfu S. Rd., Da'an Dist., Taipei City 106, Taiwan