With more than 600 million registered users, Line is not only Japan’s most popular messaging app but also one of the world’s most widely used communications platforms. Soon, it will also feature a cryptocurrency exchange.
The Tokyo-based Line Corp. made the announcement, adding that it has already filed an application to register its cryptocurrency exchange with the Financial Services Agency (FSA), the country’s top financial regulator.
The move is seen as a bid to breathe new life into the company, whose flagship messaging product has lately faced a stagnant user base due to competition from WhatsApp and other upstart messaging platforms.
This will not be the company’s first foray into fintech, as mobile money transfer service Line Pay has onboarded 40 million users, and the firm reports that it processes more than 450 billion yen worth of transactions on an annual basis.
Details on the cryptocurrency exchange remain slim, but according to Bloomberg, the firm expands to quickly ramp up its operations and expand into Hong Kong and Luxembourg within the near future.
As Strategic Coin reported, fellow Japanese startup bitFlyer recently opened up branches in both the US and Europe, making it the first cryptocurrency exchange to achieve licensure on three different continents.
The timing of Line’s announcement is notable, as just last week Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck revealed that hackers had stolen $530 millionfrom the company, representing the largest trading platform theft in the industry’s nearly decade-long history.
Coincheck has said that it intends to continue operating, but it is unclear if its clients will abandon it for other trading platforms.
Consequently, Coincheck’s black eye could provide Line with a cleaner entry into the market, as traders will likely be more comfortable patronizing an exchange run by a publicly-listed company that is already well-known and respected.
Source: http://strategiccoin.com/japans-popular-messaging-app-line-launch-cryptocurrency-exchange/