Crypto Meets Japan's Cashless Infrastructure Binance Pay has opened up USDT spending at the vast majority of PayPay-supported merchants across Japan, giving eligible overseas visitors a new w
Binance Pay has opened up USDT spending at the vast majority of PayPay-supported merchants across Japan, giving eligible overseas visitors a new way to pay while travelling in the country. Available from September 30, 2026, the service allows approximately 48 million eligible Binance Pay users across more than 100 countries and regions to make purchases at millions of merchant locations in Japan, with PayPay-supported merchants continuing to receive settlement in Japanese yen.
The payments run through HIVEX, a federated interoperability framework developed by TBCASoft. HIVEX is designed to enable interoperability across payment ecosystems while allowing participants to maintain their own governance, compliance structures, and commercial relationships, connecting acceptance partners, e-wallet ecosystems, and payment networks to enable scalable cross-border payment interoperability.
Binance stated that this is the first cryptocurrency payment service to access the PayPay merchant network through HIVEX, and merchants do not need to apply separately or enable the feature individually.PayPay is accepted at millions of locations across Japan, covering large chain stores, small and medium retailers, vending machines, taxis, and public transportation.
The launch is designed for travellers visiting Japan and expands Binance Pay's presence in one of the world's most advanced cashless payment markets, supporting spending across dining, shopping, accommodation, and other travel-related purchases.
The rollout lands as Japan continues to draw tens of millions of international visitors each year. Japan welcomed around 21.1 million foreign visitors in the first six months of 2026 alone, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.JTB forecasts a total of 41.4 million international visitors for the full year 2026.
Binance Japan users residing in Japan are not eligible to use this feature. The service targets inbound tourists rather than local residents, keeping the offering focused on the cross-border travel use case that HIVEX was built to serve.
For merchants, the integration requires no additional steps. Individual merchants do not need to make any technical changes or sign up for anything new. If they already accept PayPay, they are in. Settlement continues in yen through the existing PayPay infrastructure, meaning the crypto layer remains entirely on the consumer side of the transaction.
Sources:Binance Pay Enables Payments at PayPay Merchants via HIVEX in Japan (PR Newswire)Binance Pay lets visitors spend USDT at PayPay merchants in Japan (CoinTelegraph)Japan sees 2% drop in foreign visitors in first half of 2026 (The Japan Times)
