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Line Near Approval of Japan License for Crypto Exchange

June 19, 2019
(Bloomberg) -- Line Corp., Japan’s largest messaging app, is close to getting a license to launch a cryptocurrency exchange in its home nation, according to people familiar with the matter.Japan’s Financial Services Agency could issue the license as early as this month, with exchange operations starting a few weeks after that, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing private matters. The service, which will be called BitMax, will allow Line’s 80 million users in Japan to buy and sell cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Line’s own token Link, one of the people said. Shares rose as much as 4.6%, the most intraday in two weeks.Line joins a crowded field of tech companies racing to roll out cryptocurrency products, including a move from Facebook Inc. earlier this week to create its own financial system with Visa Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. For Line, the pressure to succeed is particularly acute as stagnant user growth has pushed shares to their lowest since listing in 2016. The Japanese company booked a loss last fiscal year as it stepped up investments into new businesses to reduce its reliance on advertising revenue.Line spokeswoman Icho Saito declined to comment.BitMax will use the same back-end technology as BitBox, a Singapore-based crypto exchange that Line launched last year for global users, according to one person. BitBox is off limits to users in Japan because of the licensing issue and so far hasn’t delivered a big boost to the company’s earnings. Exchange volume over the past 24 hours was about $2 million, according to its website.Line is still awaiting a separate banking license in Japan that will allow deeper integration of cryptocurrencies with its other services like online shopping. That license is unlikely to be issued until next year, according to one person. Line aims to debut stock brokerage operations this year with Nomura Holdings Inc. and banking services next year with Mizuho Financial Group Inc., co-Chief Executive Officer Shin Jung-ho said this month.Facebook this week announced its new crypto project Libra, a so-called stablecoin that is expected to let users send and receive money, shop online and invest through the social media platform. In Japan, tech companies including Rakuten Inc. and Yahoo Japan Corp. have launched their own crypto exchanges this year after receiving licenses from the FSA.Crypto’s growing adoption by large companies is contributing to a rebound in prices this year, with Bitcoin more than doubling over the past three months. Line’s own token Link has almost doubled in June alone, giving it a market valuation of about $30 million. It’s one of the few cryptocurrencies in the world that is issued by a large listed company.(Updates with shares in fourth paragraph.)To contact the reporters on this story: Yuji Nakamura in Tokyo at [email protected];Yuki Hagiwara in Tokyo at [email protected];Pavel Alpeyev in Tokyo at [email protected] contact the editors responsible for this story: Edwin Chan at [email protected], Peter ElstromFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P. Read More...

(Bloomberg) — Line Corp., Japan’s largest messaging app, is close to getting a license to launch a cryptocurrency exchange in its home nation, according to people familiar with the matter.Japan’s Financial Services Agency could issue the license as early as this month, with exchange operations starting a few weeks after that, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing private matters. The service, which will be called BitMax, will allow Line’s 80 million users in Japan to buy and sell cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Line’s own token Link, one of the people said. Shares rose as much as 4.6%, the most intraday in two weeks.Line joins a crowded field of tech companies racing to roll out cryptocurrency products, including a move from Facebook Inc. earlier this week to create its own financial system with Visa Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. For Line, the pressure to succeed is particularly acute as stagnant user growth has pushed shares to their lowest since listing in 2016. The Japanese company booked a loss last fiscal year as it stepped up investments into new businesses to reduce its reliance on advertising revenue.Line spokeswoman Icho Saito declined to comment.BitMax will use the same back-end technology as BitBox, a Singapore-based crypto exchange that Line launched last year for global users, according to one person. BitBox is off limits to users in Japan because of the licensing issue and so far hasn’t delivered a big boost to the company’s earnings. Exchange volume over the past 24 hours was about $2 million, according to its website.Line is still awaiting a separate banking license in Japan that will allow deeper integration of cryptocurrencies with its other services like online shopping. That license is unlikely to be issued until next year, according to one person. Line aims to debut stock brokerage operations this year with Nomura Holdings Inc. and banking services next year with Mizuho Financial Group Inc., co-Chief Executive Officer Shin Jung-ho said this month.Facebook this week announced its new crypto project Libra, a so-called stablecoin that is expected to let users send and receive money, shop online and invest through the social media platform. In Japan, tech companies including Rakuten Inc. and Yahoo Japan Corp. have launched their own crypto exchanges this year after receiving licenses from the FSA.Crypto’s growing adoption by large companies is contributing to a rebound in prices this year, with Bitcoin more than doubling over the past three months. Line’s own token Link has almost doubled in June alone, giving it a market valuation of about $30 million. It’s one of the few cryptocurrencies in the world that is issued by a large listed company.(Updates with shares in fourth paragraph.)To contact the reporters on this story: Yuji Nakamura in Tokyo at [email protected];Yuki Hagiwara in Tokyo at [email protected];Pavel Alpeyev in Tokyo at [email protected] contact the editors responsible for this story: Edwin Chan at [email protected], Peter ElstromFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — Line Corp., Japan’s largest messaging app, is close to getting a license to launch a cryptocurrency exchange in its home nation, according to people familiar with the matter.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency could issue the license as early as this month, with exchange operations starting a few weeks after that, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing private matters. The service, which will be called BitMax, will allow Line’s 80 million users in Japan to buy and sell cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Line’s own token Link, one of the people said. Shares rose as much as 4.6%, the most intraday in two weeks.

Line joins a crowded field of tech companies racing to roll out cryptocurrency products, including a move from Facebook Inc. earlier this week to create its own financial system with Visa Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. For Line, the pressure to succeed is particularly acute as stagnant user growth has pushed shares to their lowest since listing in 2016. The Japanese company booked a loss last fiscal year as it stepped up investments into new businesses to reduce its reliance on advertising revenue.

Line spokeswoman Icho Saito declined to comment.

BitMax will use the same back-end technology as BitBox, a Singapore-based crypto exchange that Line launched last year for global users, according to one person. BitBox is off limits to users in Japan because of the licensing issue and so far hasn’t delivered a big boost to the company’s earnings. Exchange volume over the past 24 hours was about $2 million, according to its website.

Line is still awaiting a separate banking license in Japan that will allow deeper integration of cryptocurrencies with its other services like online shopping. That license is unlikely to be issued until next year, according to one person. Line aims to debut stock brokerage operations this year with Nomura Holdings Inc. and banking services next year with Mizuho Financial Group Inc., co-Chief Executive Officer Shin Jung-ho said this month.

Facebook this week announced its new crypto project Libra, a so-called stablecoin that is expected to let users send and receive money, shop online and invest through the social media platform. In Japan, tech companies including Rakuten Inc. and Yahoo Japan Corp. have launched their own crypto exchanges this year after receiving licenses from the FSA.

Crypto’s growing adoption by large companies is contributing to a rebound in prices this year, with Bitcoin more than doubling over the past three months. Line’s own token Link has almost doubled in June alone, giving it a market valuation of about $30 million. It’s one of the few cryptocurrencies in the world that is issued by a large listed company.

(Updates with shares in fourth paragraph.)

To contact the reporters on this story: Yuji Nakamura in Tokyo at [email protected];Yuki Hagiwara in Tokyo at [email protected];Pavel Alpeyev in Tokyo at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Edwin Chan at [email protected], Peter Elstrom

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©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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