LINE expands blockchain and crypto product portfolio with two new additions

Japanese messaging company LINE has launched a blockchain development platform called LINE Blockchain Developers for decentralized applications and services.

The company has also launched a digital asset wallet named BITMAX that will allow users to centrally manage all the fungible and non-fungible digital assets they obtain from various blockchain services on the LINE Blockchain.

LINE’s blockchain and crypto subsidiary LVC Corporation and Line Tech Plus announced the launch of the two products to LINE’s blockchain and crypto portfolio on Aug. 26.

Through the web-based blockchain development platform, the company aims to help developers cut costs and complexities of developing and deploying blockchain applications, tokenizing digital assets and monetizing data. 

The BITMAX wallets will be connected to users’ LINE IDs and they will be able to send and trade digital assets with their LINE contacts, according to the announcement.

The company also said that the developers will be able to use LINE’s userbase of more than 84 million for the blockchain services they develop. 

While LINE will make its development platform available globally in English and Japanese, the digital asset wallet will be limited to Japan with support for only the local language.

The messaging giant had established its blockchain group in 2018 and has since then expanded its blockchain and crypto initiatives. In September 2019, it received regulatory approval in Japan and launched its cryptocurrency exchange Bitmax. Only a year prior to that, the company had also launched a Singapore-based exchange called BitBox that has now been moved to the U.S and rebranded to BitFront.