Asian Technology Giant LINE Prepares to Launch Its Own Cryptocurrency

Major tech companies are showing increased interest in creating their own currencies. Although such ventures are nothing new, more and more companies have been attempting to create actual cryptocurrencies. LINE is the latest firm to be doing so, albeit in a slightly different manner.

LINE Aims to Reward its Users

Ever since Telegram made its ICO plans public – and subsequently canceled them – other technology firms have begun paying more attention to the idea of creating their own cryptocurrency. Such a native currency makes a lot of sense in some ways, especially when it comes to engaging with users in a more direct manner.

LINE, the company known for its popular instant messaging solution in Asia, is looking to create such a cryptocurrency in the near future. Said currency will be known as LINE Q and will mainly serve the purpose of rewarding users based on their participation on the platform. After all, such platforms wouldn’t be successful without the users who rely on it on a regular basis.

Not too many details are known about LINE Q at this point in time. We do know that LINE has been working on its own blockchain infrastructure for quite some time now. Creating a native currency powered by this blockchain makes a lot of sense. A community-driven question-and-answer knowledge market currency will certainly be a valuable addition to LINE, although its long-term success is not guaranteed.

Unlike what most people may expect, this currency will not be sold through an initial coin offering or anything of the sort. Instead, it will be created for the sole purpose of rewarding users and issuing tokens as compensation. The company prides itself on not selling these tokens to raise extra money, but rather to create a useful real-life service through a blockchain-based ecosystem.

LINE CTO Park Euivin commented on the project:

Even though Google is a giant company and has many technical strengths . . . LINE has over 200 million messenger users as well as abundant service application experience[s] which can give us a competitive edge in the blockchain industry.

No one will deny the success of LINE to date. With a very positive first quarter of 2018, it is evident the platform is still growing and company revenue is increasing. With a renewed focus on blockchain, cryptocurrency, loans, and insurance, a lot of exciting ventures are on the horizon for the Asian technology giant. The company’s cryptocurrency exchange is scheduled to go live later this year, pending approval by Japan’s FSA.