Cryptocurrency exchange Upbit has listed a yen-pegged stablecoin for the first time in South Korea. With "coin moves" — buying dollar stablecoins with won and sending them overseas — already running into trillions of won each month, the ability to trade a yen stablecoin directly in won is expected to add to regulators' concerns about cross-border money flows.
Upbit began supporting trading in JPYC from 6 p.m. on the 17th, according to financial industry sources. JPYC is Japan's first yen stablecoin, pegged one-to-one to the Japanese currency. JPYC Inc. began formally issuing the token in October last year.
It is the first time a domestic exchange has listed a yen stablecoin. Because Upbit supports won-denominated trading, Korean users can now buy and sell a yen-linked cryptocurrency directly with won, without going through a separate currency exchange.
Market participants are focusing on how JPYC is expanding beyond a simple investment asset into overseas payments and decentralized finance, or DeFi. Lawson, a major Japanese convenience store chain, has been running a JPYC payment pilot since July at its Takanawa Gateway City store in Tokyo's Minato Ward. In the DeFi market, services that let users earn yield by depositing JPYC or deploy it alongside other cryptocurrencies have been appearing one after another.
Korean users expect the Upbit listing to sharply improve access to JPYC. One cryptocurrency user said the listing means investors "can now easily buy JPYC directly with won on a domestic exchange, move it to a personal wallet and use it for payments while traveling in Japan," adding that it "can ease the fee burden that comes with exchanging yen at a bank or paying by credit card."
Cross-border money flows through foreign-currency stablecoins are already growing quickly. In June, stablecoins sent from South Korea's five largest won-based exchanges to overseas exchanges totaled 2.7625 trillion won ($1.99 billion). Dollar stablecoins such as Tether have dominated those flows, but there is concern that the JPYC listing could widen the cross-border channel to yen-linked assets as well.
JPYC briefly jumped to 27.2 won shortly after trading opened at 6 p.m. That is more than triple the global price of 8.81 won as of 9:40 a.m., which Upbit cited in its listing notice. As of 6:20 p.m., it was trading in the 23-won range, more than 99% above its opening price of 12 won.
