Osaka Prefecture Subsidizes Stablecoin Payment Trials with Up to ¥10 Million Each
Osaka Prefecture has chosen four projects to receive subsidies under its Pioneering Financial Market Formation Support Program, aimed at establishing a market for advanced financial services within the prefecture. The selected projects include HashPort, Myna Wallet, Mi&T, and SBI XDC Network APAC, which will conduct proof-of-concept trials for in-store and e-commerce payments using the yen-denominated stablecoin JPYC and the U.S. dollar-denominated USDC.
The subsidies, ranging from ¥1.25 million to ¥10 million (approximately $7,900 to $63,000) per company, will cover system development costs and other expenses for each project. HashPort plans to run trials at retail stores in the prefecture from January to March 2027, testing a mechanism that settles payments to merchants in Japanese yen.
Osaka Prefecture Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura stated his intention to pursue social implementation of stablecoin payments starting from Osaka, citing their potential as a mainstream payment method in the future. The prefecture aims to leverage the digital payment experience cultivated at the Expo to expand everyday stablecoin usage at physical stores and e-commerce sites within the prefecture.