Japan’s largest messaging app LINE has established a new corporate token venture fund with $10 million in capital for startups in the blockchain and crypto industry.
With over 600 million registered users and 200 million monthly active users worldwide on its messaging app, Japan’s LINE announced its entry into the cryptocurrency space after filing to register and launch a crypto exchange in Japan earlier this year.
Now operational under the name ‘Bitbox’, Line has today announced the launch of a new token venture fund under its subsidiary ‘Unblock Ventures’ in a move that sees the tech giant pledge $10 million in capital. The aim, LINE adds, is to ‘boost the development and adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology’ by investing in blockchain startups.
The company added:
As such, LINE is one of the first publicly traded corporations to formalize token investments through a corporate fund.
Further, the company also revealed Bitbox has added TRX – TRON’s native token – which LINE highlighted as the first coin project to get the greenlight in a review by the Bitbox open-listing committee.
At press time, Bitbox’s support for TRX has seen the latter’s value soar nearly 10% in a 24-hour period, data from Coinmarketcap shows. Following its listing, TRON is also rewarding BItbox users with an airdrop of 9 million TRON tokens ‘in a promotional event running until August 22.’
Bitbox officially began operations in July to serve traders globally with the notable exceptions of Japan and the United States – a direct consequence of regulatory hurdles in the two countries.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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