Binance Pay now works at millions of PayPay supported merchant locations across Japan through the HIVEX payment network, letting eligible overseas visitors spend crypto while merchants keep settling in yen. The Sept. 30 rollout excludes Japanese residents and targets travelers instead.
Binance said on Sept. 30 that Binance Pay now connects to millions of PayPay supported merchant locations in Japan through the HIVEX payment network. The move gives approximately 48 million eligible Binance Pay users from more than 100 countries and regions a way to spend crypto while visiting the country, while participating merchants keep receiving settlement in Japanese yen.
Japanese residents are not eligible for the feature. Overseas users must come from a jurisdiction where Binance Pay is supported and complete the exchange's identity verification process. Users pay directly from their Binance accounts by scanning a merchant's PayPay QR code, or, where supported, by displaying a payment code in the Binance app for staff to scan.
HIVEX links Binance Pay to PayPay's merchant network
HIVEX provides the connection between Binance Pay and PayPay's merchant network, letting an overseas payment service work with QR infrastructure that Japanese businesses already use, without requiring each overseas wallet to integrate separately. The network had already linked other overseas payment services to PayPay merchants before Binance Pay joined it. Earlier in September, PayPay added UnionPay QR payments through HIVEX. The company said its merchant network could then receive payments from 36 overseas cashless services covering 17 countries and regions. Those services represented approximately 80% of international visitors to Japan.
Thomas Gregory, Binance's vice president of payments and fiat, described Japan as one of the leading destinations for connected cashless payments and said the integration reflects "making payments more seamless, borderless, and accessible for travelers visiting the country", according to Binance.
Binance Pay deepens its ties with PayPay in Japan
SoftBank group company PayPay acquired a 40% stake in Binance Japan in October 2025, when PayPay had more than 70 million users in the country. Their first joint services let Binance Japan users buy crypto with PayPay Money and PayPay Points, with proceeds from crypto sales transferable back into PayPay.
In April 2026, the companies expanded the link to let customers deposit yen into Binance Japan through PayPay Money before placing a crypto order. Binance Japan then raised the PayPay Money instant deposit limits in August: the 24-hour ceiling rose from ¥300,000 to ¥1 million, and the 30-day limit moved from ¥1 million to ¥2 million.
Japan tests other ways to spend digital assets
Convenience store operator Lawson tested stablecoin payments using JPYC, USDC and USDT at two Tokyo locations in August, connecting stablecoin wallets directly to the retailer's existing point-of-sale registers. Lawson said it would assess transaction speed, system stability and store operations before deciding on wider deployment.
JCB partnered with Circle in July to test USDC for internal treasury transfers and merchant payments, starting with the card network's own cross-border fund transfers. Binance Research said in April that Binance Pay had reached more than 21 million merchants globally, including a connection with Brazil's Pix network.
Source: crypto.news
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
