Messaging Giant LINE’s Token Now Available To Japanese Traders
- Though originally issued in 2018 by the messaging giant, LN is now available to Japanese traders for the first time.
- LINE’s native token was listed by BitMex, the messaging giant’s own cryptocurrency exchange, launched at the end of 2019.
Line CEO Takeshi Idezawa. Bangkok Post
The native token of messaging giant LINE has become the sixth crypto asset to be listed for trading on cryptocurrency exchange BitMax, the firm said in a press release last Thursday.
According to the announcement, the new listing will make LINK (LN) available to Japan-based traders for the first time, seeing that it was previously listed on LVC’s U.S. exchange Bitfront, which denies access to Japanese traders. The crypto asset will be joining the ranks of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin, which are also available to Japanese traders on BitMax.
Originally issued in 2018 as a rewards incentive, LN is the native token of LINE, the largest messaging app in Japan with over 84 million active monthly users. The messaging giant is aiming to create an ecosystem in which LN tokens are awarded to LINE users who choose to use decentralized apps (dapps). While it has the same name (LINK), LN should not be mistaken for the crypto asset Chainlink (LINK), which is the native token of decentralized oracle network Chainlink.
While the firm doesn’t seem to have plans to rebrand itself, in its Whitepaper it stoped referring to the blockchain’s original name “Link blockchain”, and rather now calls itself LINE blockchain, probably in an attempt to differentiate from Chainlink.
Operated by LINE’s LVC Corporation, BitMax was launched only two weeks after the Japanese messaging giant received regulatory approval. Integrated with Line Pay, the company’s mobile payment service, the trading platform does not charge trading fees, but only a 108 yen charge for deposits and withdrawals.
- The Japanese exchange has adopted new AML measures in order to comply with the Japanese governments implementation of FATF’s Travel Rule.
- Transaction restrictions will be applied to 21 countries that follow the Travel Rule, though transfers to countries not on the list will still be supported.
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- There is still no official date for when Binance will re-enter the Japanese market, but Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC) will close doors on 31 May, and reopen as Binance Japan sometime after June.
- Customers in Japan who wished to continue using the exchange under the Binance name will have to undergo new identity verification and KYC checks.
- FTX Japan will resume customer crypto and fiat withdrawals, which will be processed through the Liquid Japan platform, tomorrow at noon local time.
- Users who do not have a Liquid Japan account will first need to create one before they are able to access their crypto assets.