Line, Japan’s dominant messaging app, has rolled out its new Japanese-facing cryptocurrency exchange.
The social networking giant, which reports 81 million monthly active users in Japan alone, now offers trading for Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. Tokyo-headquartered Line previously rolled out an international-facing exchange called Bitbox in July 2018, which offered services worldwide – excluding the United States and Japan.
Now, with their new domestic exchange, Bitmax, the company says it’s ready to tap into their largest market.
“While numerous existing exchanges already have a large customer base, LINE sees cryptocurrency exchanges as still in their infancy, and believes the industry has potential for even greater growth.”
The exchange is offered through Line’s digital wallet and links with the Line Pay service, “allowing for fast deposits and withdrawals in yen.”
The company says it plans to emphasize security.
“The experienced team behind the design, building, and operation of the LINE platform has also been responsible for building BITMAX’s security environment.
As part of cryptocurrency security measures, BITMAX uses the high-security wallet from BitGo Inc., a US-based provider of world-class technologies. BITMAX also clearly separates and manages customer assets from the company’s own, as well as stores cryptocurrencies in a cold wallet.
A dedicated team has been especially created to manage the cold wallet itself, as part of LINE’s commitment to providing the most reliable and secure service possible.”
Line reports a total of 164 million users worldwide.
Howard Mahere 