Setagaya Pay
Setagaya Pay is the digital currency of Setagaya, Tokyo's most populous ward. The ward's shopping street federation runs it with ward support. Users charge yen into an app and pay by QR code at more than 6,000 local shops. Small shops give up to 3% back in points, and the ward funds larger point campaigns during the year. It launched in February 2021.
Setagaya Pay is the largest Japanese ward-level currency in the catalogue by merchant count (6,000+ shops), five years old and heavily used, with the class ceiling of yen peg, grant-funded incentives, and custodial single-vendor design.
M69 Score
Scored against the Money2069 Manifesto — see methodology. Higher = more aligned.
Detailed Rating Breakdown
Issuance Model3x2.0
Issued by the ward's shopping street federation on the MoneyEasy platform. Debt-free prepaid conversion of yen plus point campaigns set by ward budget decisions.
Spending Power Stability2x2.0
Pegged 1:1 to the yen. No independent stability mechanism.
Fiat Independence & Interoperability2x1.0
Fully yen-denominated. Campaign funding comes from national price-support grants through the ward.
Traction2x4.0
More than 6,000 participating shops as of April 2026, up from 429 at the February 2021 launch, serving a ward of about 940,000 people. Campaign calendar runs continuously through 2026 with 10% point-back rounds.
Sovereignty1.0
Federation-run and custodial on a commercial platform (FinoValley's MoneyEasy). Ward funding decisions control its incentives.
Governance2.0
Merchant federation operates it, the ward funds it. Terms are published; users have no governance role.
Resilience2.0
Five years of operation with 14x merchant growth, but incentives depend on annual grants and the platform is a single vendor. A July 2026 point-distribution error was disclosed and partially recovered.
Inclusivity3.0
App-only, which excludes residents without smartphones. Open to anyone who can install the app, including visitors.