Circle’s New VC Fund Backs $4.4M Funding Round for Japanese Stablecoin Issuer

JPYC, the issuer of a Japanese yen-pegged stablecoin, has raised ¥500 million (about $4.4 million) in a Series A funding round that was led by Headline Asia with participation from Circle’s Circle Ventures fund that marked Circle Ventures’ initial capital deployment.

Tokyo-based JPYC issues the stablecoin as a prepaid payment instrument in Japan. The company plans to use the funding to strengthen its position as a JPYC issuer, improve operational and development capabilities and acquire prepaid payment instruments for third-party businesses.
“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,” Headline Asia partner Akio Tanaka said in the press release that announced the funding round.
“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,” Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said in the release.
Circle, a peer-to-peer payments technology company, had an active news day on Tuesday, announcing Circle Ventures earlier in the day and later revealing plans for a new hub in Singapore.

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Brandy Betz

Brandy covers crypto-related venture capital deals for CoinDesk.

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