Kaia Secures Wallet and Payment Network in Japan for Stablecoin Usage

The Kaia DLT Foundation has simultaneously secured a "wallet for holding" and "stores for spending" stablecoins in Japan. Kaia announced on the 11th that the non-custodial wallet "Hashport Wallet," operated by the Japanese Web3 company Hashport, officially supports the Kaia network, and on the same day, it signed a business agreement with the Japanese listed payment company Netstars to introduce stablecoin payments.

Since the implementation of the revised Payment Services Act in Japan in 2023, the issuance and circulation of yen stablecoins have been conducted within a regulatory framework. However, while the issuers, wallets, and trading infrastructure have been established, the limited number of actual payment locations has been pointed out as the biggest bottleneck for popularization. Kaia explained that it aims to directly target the transition from "issuance" to "usage" by securing both user touchpoints and places of use.

Kaia Integrated into Wallet with 1 Million Downloads

The Hashport Wallet, which is a successor to the official app "Expo2025 Digital Wallet" for the Osaka-Kansai Expo, has surpassed 1 million cumulative downloads. With this support, users will be able to view and send/receive Kaia and Kaia-based JPYC, USDT, and NFTs on a single screen simply by updating the app. This opens a direct channel to a large user base in Japan that has already completed onboarding through the Expo.

The Hashport Wallet supports JPYC and dollar-pegged stablecoins and has features that allow users to convert Lawson convenience store's exclusive Ponta points into digital assets or to cash out their holdings via AU Pay. Last year, it formed a capital business partnership with Japan's major telecom company KDDI. Hashport and others have been selected as targets for the "Pioneering Financial Market Formation Support Project Subsidy" jointly promoted by Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City, and they plan to expand their business into the Kansai region by conducting merchant payment demonstrations.

Direct Connection to 700,000 Merchants and Over 15,000 Companies Nationwide

Since introducing Japan's first multi-QR payment gateway "StarPay" in 2015, Netstars has connected major domestic and international payment methods to merchants across Japan with just one device and one contract. The annual payment processing amount exceeds 2 trillion yen. The two parties plan to create a payment touchpoint that consumers use daily by directly connecting the Asia stablecoin network established by Kaia with the payment network owned by Netstars.

The collaboration will proceed in three branches: introducing in-store payments for Kaia-based stablecoins using the StarPay merchant network, expanding support for Asian currency stablecoins such as Korean won, Hong Kong dollar, and New Taiwan dollar, and validating exchange, liquidity, and settlement technologies, including the on-chain FX orchestration layer "Ratio" of the Kaia ecosystem. Merchants will be able to accept new payment methods without the risk of price fluctuations or additional accounting burdens, based on the premise of using existing devices and apps and settling in Japanese yen.

Foreign Tourists from Korea Paying with Won Stablecoins

The goal is for foreign tourists visiting Japan to pay at stores while holding their home currency stablecoins, with merchants receiving yen. This could become a new inbound payment model that does not rely on currency exchange or high-cost international card networks. In particular, Korea accounts for the largest share of foreign tourists visiting Japan, and if discussions on the institutionalization of won stablecoins progress, it is expected that a large-scale offline touchpoint for Korean users to make actual payments abroad will be established.

Kaia has already followed a similar path domestically. Following the KB Kookmin Bank stablecoin project, it provided the mainnet in July for a blockchain-based digital local currency concept verification involving BNK Busan Bank, AhnLab Blockchain Company, Open Asset, and Lambda256. In load tests using actual payment data from Busan Bank, a 100% success rate and processing speed within one second were recorded across all segments. The experience of handling municipal-level payments and settlements on the mainnet is expected to align with the Osaka demonstration.

Suh Sang-min, chairman of the Kaia DLT Foundation, stated, "The way blockchain becomes part of everyday life is by entering the apps people are using and the checkout counters they are already at. Kaia has now added its experience to both Japan's everyday wallet used by a million people and the nationwide merchant network. We will continue to establish ourselves in the layer where money actually moves in Asia."

Yoshida Seihaku, CEO of Hashport, said, "Kaia is one of the few networks that has implemented blockchain in real society within a regulatory framework together with local governments and financial institutions. We will not end the connection created by the 1 million touchpoints at the Expo as a one-time event but will link it to everyday payments and remittances."

Ri Tsuyoshi, CEO of Netstars, stated, "For the social utilization of stablecoins, it is essential to have places where users can actually use them and a payment and settlement system that merchants can accept with confidence. We will connect our merchant network to Kaia users to create an environment where stablecoins can be used in everyday payments." He also added, "We will lead this collaboration to the realization of 'StarPay-X' and long-term business growth."

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