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Line’s Singapore Crypto Exchange Relaunched as US-based Bitfront

Line, the Japanese messaging service has closed its Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange and relaunched the exchange service globally from a United States-based platform.

The team from Bitbox released a notice on Feb.27, announcing that the exchange will be launched from the U.S under the new name BitFront.

Effective Immediately

BitFront is operated by LVC USA, the U.S. subsidiary of LVC Corporation, Line’s digital asset- and blockchain-focused arm.

From the time of the announcement, users have been automatically redirected from the old BitBox to the new BitFront URL, where a series of notices have been set up to keep users informed of the platform’s changes, all of which are in immediate effect.

Special Offer

With the new launch, the team at Bitfront have made a temporary promotion for US citizens in all states except Hawaii, Nevada and New York. The Special promotion offers zero fee USD fiat wire transfer deposits. All deposits made during the promotion period will incur zero deposit fees, with no limits on deposit amounts or the number of deposits.

To mark the launch period, zero-fee U.S. dollar fiat wire transfer deposits are now temporarily on offer for residents in approved U.S. states, after which regular, fee-based dollar deposits and withdrawals via Automatic Clearing House or wire transfer will open.

With the launch of Bitfront, the LVC Corporation now operates two crypto exchanges worldwide.

Image via Shutterstock

LINE Messaging App Launches Digital Asset Wallet and Blockchain Platform to Run Dapps and Tokens

LINE communications app recently launched a new blockchain digital wallet that can be used to manage various crypto assets.

LINE Crypto ‘LINK (LN)’ now Has a Wallet

The digital wallet, dubbed BITMAX, can be used to combine digital tokens coming from different blockchain services into one coin wallet. On top of the new addition, LINE messaging app also released a new blockchain development platform for LINE Blockchain Developers to run tokenized assets, decentralized apps (dApps), and more on the network. The newly offered BITMAX wallet feature on LINE is solely available in Japan, where the communications app is most famous.

It is not the first time that LINE has leveraged blockchain for its benefits. Back in 2018, the company’s crypto and blockchain businesses were already set in place and were managed by LVC Corporation and LINE TECH PLUS PTE. The company had issued its own cryptocurrency token, dubbed LINK (LN) and the digital asset can be used for trading purposes with other major cryptos, such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). The team in charge of furthering LINK crypto economy is the LINE Blockchain Lab, which was put in place in April 2018.

Furthermore, LINE company is currently in the process of developing its own proprietary blockchain LINE.

Blockchain Development Platform by LINE

As for the new blockchain development platform put in place by LINE to support its own blockchain developers, the main features that can be found on the platform is “RESTful API,” leveraged to easily link services to a blockchain without a smart contract protocol. Furthermore, the blockchain development platform is a fully managed blockchain-fueled network, and the platform can be used to create a “unique token economy.”

Services that issue tokens through the platform can be linked to the ‘BITMAX Wallet.’ In addition to the issuance of crypto tokens, the digital asset wallet can be used in conjunction with established LINE IDs from a user’s contact list. Anyone with a LINE ID can easily send and receive cryptocurrency with LINK friends, making digital transactions highly efficient.

LINE company is one of the few messaging apps that have investigated blockchain alternatives to power its application and enhance its online presence with a decentralized ledger technology. Not only has LINE successfully leveraged blockchain to further its digital growth, but it has also managed to create a native token and progressively gain popularity among online users, boasting of more than 84 million users at the time of writing.

Messaging Giant LINE is Developing a Platform for CBDC

Japanese messaging giant Line is developing a platform to aid Asian central banks in their pursuit of central bank digital currencies (CBDC).

As reported by a South Korean news outlet on Oct.19, LINE—a Japan-based subsidiary of Korean internet search engine firm Naver—is developing a platform for developing central bank digital currencies.

A LINE official acknowledged the fact of the CBDC platform provision business, they said:

“We want to provide CBDC platform technology to several central banks interested in CBDC.”

The messaging company is reportedly in discussions on the application of its blockchain-based CBDC platform with several central banks in major Asian countries, LINE executives said that they cannot disclose the exact countries that are considering the platform’s application.

LINE’s aim is to support the customization of national CBDC development, in a format that reflects the requirements of central banks in each country while maintaining the advantages of its own blockchain platform, such as scalability and stability.

The messaging company is currently discussing the application of blockchain platform technology with central banks in major Asian countries as part of LINE’s strategy to expand across the globe.

Line officials stated:

“It is difficult to disclose the exact country where the discussion is taking place,” and “It is a major Asian country focusing on the development of CBDC for micropayment.”

Line in Blockchain and Crypto

Beyond its CBDC platform announcement, LINE has been venturing further into the crypto and blockchain industry. In August 2020, LINE launched a new blockchain digital wallet that can be used to manage various crypto assets.

The digital wallet, dubbed BITMAX, can be used to combine digital tokens coming from different blockchain services into a single wallet. On top of the new addition, LINE messaging app also released a new blockchain development platform for LINE Blockchain Developers to run tokenized assets, decentralized apps (dApps), and more on the network. The newly offered BITMAX wallet feature on LINE is solely available in Japan, where the communications app is most famous.

EY-Led Consortium Submits Bid To Help Develop South Korea's CBDC

A consortium led by Ernst and Young subsidiary in Hanyoung has made the first and only bid to construct the business model for the Bank of Korea’s Central Bank Digital Currency project.

Accordig to reports from local news outlet ZDNet Korea, the consortium which also comprises of Samsung SDS and Naver line may be chosen for the BOK’s CBDC pilot system design if no other company submits a bid before the deadline revised to October 29.

With the project estimated to have a budget of 800 million Korean Won, the job to be done as described will be to design the complete business model for the proposed Digital Won and industry experts as noted by ZDNet Korea noted that only a few companies have the required expertise to carry this out.

EY, renowned as one of the Big Four auditing firms with strong accounting and consultancy background will be in charge of designing processes for each task necessary for the operation of the CBDC as a whole, while Samsung SDS and Naver Line will collaborate in the form of system architecture. Should there be no more bid submissions, a technology evaluation will be carried out on the EY led consortium and a passing score would be needed to get approved for the project.

EY’s Blockchain Solutions To Be Tested on a National Scale

EY has registered and launched several blockchain-based solutions with the latest being an enhancement of its blockchain analytics tool, the Explorer & Visualizer solution to investigate on-chain data. The blockchain competence of EY would however be tested on a grander level should its aligned consortium win the Bank of Korea’s bid.

Ernst & Young has been exploring the boundless capabilities of blockchain technology for a while now and it made a foray into the public space with its solution for public funds management launched in October 2019 .

LINE to Offer BTC, ETH for Payment Options and Introduce token in March

Messenger app LINE is considering adding cryptocurrencies to its payment options and officially launching its native LINK token (LN) in March.

Per its announcement, users can use “the LINK at some LINE Pay online merchants during a trial period from March to December 2022 in Japan.”

Although users can choose both LN for payment on the Line pay software, the token and Chainlink (LINK) are two different cryptocurrencies.

The LN was officially launched in 2018 based on its own blockchain network, LINE Blockchain. Users can pay commissions through LINK or LINE Pay accounts or bank accounts when trading crypto assets.

According to Coinmarketcap, LN was trading at $144.80 during the intraday, up over 20% in the past 7 days.

In August 2020, LINE launched a new blockchain digital wallet that can be used to manage various crypto assets.

The digital wallet, dubbed BITMAX, can be used to combine digital tokens coming from different blockchain services into a single wallet.

The company said it will connect the link token to LINE Pay as a payment solution, test the token’s in reality, and increase the convenience and number of payment options for users.

LINE Pay Corporation is the operator of FinTech services for the LINE Pay digital wallet and LINE messaging app.

As reported by Blockchain.News on October 20, LINE was developing a platform to aid Asian central banks in their pursuit of central bank digital currencies (CBDC).

Japan's Messaging Platform LINE to Launch NFT Marketplace

Japanese social media and messaging platform LINE has launched its Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace dubbed LINE NFT which is set to officially go live on April 13.

The launch of the LINE NFT platform is in line with the company’s long-standing quest to be a major player in the blockchain industry, and with the marketplace, it will be able to provide a better alternative to all of its 90 million monthly users to participate in the growing NFT ecosystem.

Through LINE NFT, users can purchase digital art and trade them at will. Per the launch schedule revealed, the marketplace will feature a total of 100 collectables at launch encompassing 7 genres and curated from a total of 17 content creators. These content platforms include but are not limited to the popular Yoshimoto Kogyo.

LINE has an active blockchain research lab which it floated back in 2018 and has done impressive research to encompass the key emerging offshoots of blockchain technology. As a part of its strides, the social media giant launched the “NFT Market β” where NFTs based on LINE Blockchain can be traded.

The advent of the Beta market exposed and prepared the company for the launching of the LINE NFT. While the total number of collections seem limited at first, the social media platform affirmed plans to increase the collection library through an active partnership with key players with vested interests in the space including SoftBank Corp. and Z Holdings Corp.

The NFTs secured through the LINE NFT platform will be compatible for storage on its digital wallet dubbed the LINE BITMAX WALLET.

Based on its popularity amongst the Japanese population as well as its regulatory standing in the Asian nation, the LINE NFT marketplace is poised to serve the citizens better than other traditional digital collectable trading platforms such as OpenSea, Rarible, and LooksRare.