Binance Pay Brings Crypto Payments to PayPay Merchants in Japan

Binance Pay began serving eligible overseas visitors at PayPay merchants across Japan on September 30, 2026. Users can scan a merchant's PayPay QR code in the Binance app and pay with more than 100 supported cryptocurrencies.

What changes for you: if you are visiting Japan and your home jurisdiction supports Binance Pay, you may be able to spend crypto at major chains, small shops, taxis, public transport and vending machines. Merchants still receive payment in Japanese yen. They do not need to apply for the service, although businesses can disable HIVEX payments through PayPay for Business settings.

How the payment reaches the merchant

The transaction does not take the same route as an ordinary crypto payment. Binance Pay settles through USDT. HIVEX then settles with PayPay, and PayPay pays the merchant in yen.

Eligible users can scan the merchant's PayPay QR code through the Binance app. Where supported, they can also display a payment code in the app for the merchant to scan. Binance says there are no gas fees at checkout.

That does not mean the checkout is free. No user or merchant fee schedule was published in the sources reviewed. Binance is also offering eligible users a limited-time 10% discount at PayPay merchants, but its terms could not be checked because the linked Binance announcement did not provide readable text. A discount is not a fee rate.

Millions of locations, but an exact count is missing

PayPay is accepted at millions of locations nationwide, including large chains, smaller retailers, taxis, vending machines and public transport. Binance says merchants do not need to opt in separately.

Those figures describe PayPay's wider acceptance network. Neither Binance nor PayPay disclosed the number of merchants reached by this launch, transaction volume or a rollout schedule. Calling the service nationwide would overstate what has been verified. It is live at PayPay-supported locations, but the evidence does not show that every merchant is participating.

The eligible user pool also needs context. Binance says the launch covers approximately 48 million Binance Pay users across more than 100 countries and regions. That figure was measured on June 1, 2026, and it is a global pool, not a count of users in Japan.

Japanese residents and Binance Japan account holders are excluded. Visitors must come from a jurisdiction where Binance Pay is available and complete Binance identity verification.

More than 100 assets, but no full list

Binance told Cointelegraph that users can pay with more than 100 supported cryptocurrencies. Its wider Binance Pay product supports more than 300 cryptocurrencies globally, according to a Binance release. Those figures cover different scopes and should not be treated as the same number.

The exact list available for this Japan rollout has not been confirmed from a readable Binance primary page. It is also unclear whether USDT is the only backend settlement asset. The verified payment flow uses USDT between Binance Pay and HIVEX, while the merchant is paid in yen.

Live service, limited evidence on scale

This is more than a narrow demo because eligible visitors can use the service at an existing national payment network. It is not a clean measure of mainstream crypto adoption either. Published coverage is thin on actual use, merchant reach and fees.

HIVEX connects payment networks and wallets without replacing their own governance, compliance and commercial relationships. PayPay had already added UnionPay QR payments through the framework before Binance joined. It also lists other overseas services, although the published counts conflict.

For travellers, the practical test is simple: check that Binance Pay is available in the jurisdiction where you live, confirm that your asset is enabled in the app, and have identity verification completed before reaching a PayPay checkout. The service removes one barrier to spending crypto in Japan. Its long-term scale remains undisclosed.