Japanese Messaging App Granted Crypto Trading License By FSA

Japan is one of the friendliest environments for cryptocurrency, and many crypto related businesses have been granted licenses by the country’s regulator.

The crypto industry is flourishing in Japan, and more players are coming into play.

Line registration

The most popular messaging app in Japan, LINE, has obtained a cryptocurrency license from the Financial Services Agency (FSA). LINE has over 80 million monthly users, and it will now offer crypto services to all these users.

The crypto platform has been named BitBox, and it will operate as a crypto exchange, offering its users the full range of services that can be found on an exchange.

According to the FSA, BitBox’s registration was completed on the 6th of September. LVC Corp. completed the registration on behalf of LINE, and they will oversee all of the blockchain functions and digital assets that belong to LINE.

To add to the registration with the FSA, LINE has also been registered with the Tokyo Stock Exchange according to the firm’s president, Takeshi Dezawa.

LINE token economy

In August, LINE announced that they are working on developing a token economy. This token economy will be based on the firm’s blockchain LINK Chain. Through this blockchain, two tokens will be availed to users. Japanese customers will use LINE Point while users from the rest of the world will use LINK.

This token economy has been designed to provide a bridge between users and the services that they require. The LINK Chain will have five new decentralized applications (dApps) launched on it soon.

These apps will cover a range of categories, including food review, Q&A, location review, prediction, and product review.

LINE says that their ultimate aim is to create a new kind of relationship structure between service providers and their users. Through this new relationship structure, LINK will provide mutual growth and space for co-creation between all interested parties.

Regulatory changes in Japan

Reports surfacing from Japan’s suggest that there are regulatory changes on the way in the country. These new regulations will apply to crypto exchanges in the country.

The country is revising its laws regarding crypto exchanges, and from mid-2020, all crypto related activity will be placed under the guidance of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.

The FSA has recently become more aggressive in their efforts to curb unregulated Bitcoin exchanges.

The regulator’s crackdown on these exchanges has resulted in a slow down in Bitcoin trading in the country, but over time, it will be beneficial to the country’s crypto industry as a whole.

After the FSA’s crackdown is through, there might also be room for exchanges to extend the services they offer to include features such as options to buy Ethereum with PayPal.