Line Corp. Introduces Crypto Exchange Services in Singapore

Takeshi Idezawa, CEO, Line Corporation, announced on 28th June 2018 that Line is soon going to launch a cryptocurrency exchange service in Singapore, during a company conference. Line, the biggest messaging platform of Japan, has become the latest social media company to be interested in cryptocurrency trade. Line has named its exchange as “Bitbox” and would be set up in Singapore.

Sources from within the company informed the Japanese media that Bitbox would be launched in July 2018 and would trade in over thirty different cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin. As Bitbox does not intend to allow crypto/fiat exchange, traders would have to carry out crypto/crypto transactions only, by paying a flat fee of 0.10%.

When asked for comments on Bitbox, Takeshi said that “With cryptocurrency, we are going to take our challenge in financial services globally.” Users from all over the world would be able to trade on Bitbox, except those from USA and Japan. Bitbox would be available in 15 different languages for its global users

The company further said that it would ensure a robust implementation of Blockchain and cryptocurrency. According to Takeshi, going forward Line Corporation intends to establish emerging technology as its core business strategy. According to the company, it would establish Blockchain as the core of unifying its three major business segments, “commerce, media services and entertainment.”

Takeshi Idezawa further added that Line corporation is looking to reduce its dependency on revenue from advertisements by leveraging the potential of cryptocurrency and blockchain. Line is looking to capture market share in significant segments being dominated by its major rival WhatsApp. He was further quoted saying that “There isn’t a system in place right now that can monetarily reward users’ contributions to [sic] a service. Linking service growth to compensation for contributors in a token economy could unlock a great deal of new value.”

Line Corporation intends to take the next step forward pretty soon by launching its own tokens and Bitbox mobile app. This would separate Bitbox app from Line messaging service app. According to internal sources, in order to provide security protocols for the platform, Line Corporation has struck a deal with BitGo Inc., a leading blockchain security firm. Line has also signed a partnership agreement with Icon (ICX).