Japan’s most popular social messaging app Line adds NFT marketplace

Japan’s largest social media application, Line, has officially launched its own nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace called LINE NFT. 

Partnering with Yoshimoto Kogyo, a major Japanese entertainment conglomerate — the LVC Corporation, Line’s crypto and blockchain manager — will offer approximately 40,000 different NFTs to its 90 million users.

The first wave of soon-to-be-released NFTs will include videos from the company’s in-house Yoshimoto NFT Theatre as well depictions of characters from well-known anime series Patlabor the Mobile Police, with more to come on offer in the coming months.

Also NFTs from the iconic anime series Patlabor the Mobile Police, and NFTs of other popular characters. At a later point, more #NFTs from a variety of genres will be available.#nftigoo#NFTanimepic.twitter.com/32ZGRbt0Lb

— Nftigoo (@nftigoo) April 13, 2022

Users will store their purchased NFTs in the LINE BitMa wallet, a product offered in conjunction with crypto-exchange BitMax.

The app adds NFT capabilities to a growing list of crypto-ready features, after introducing the option of allowing users to pay for items with its native token LINK (LN) at any of LINE Pay’s online merchants earlier this year.

Line has a reputation for being among the first major technology companies in Japan to adopt cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, after launching its very own crypto exchange in 2018.

Related: Japanese business giant Nomura to explore crypto and NFTs with new unit

NFTs are becoming increasingly popular throughout Japan, despite the country’s relatively strict crypto regulations. The Japanese financial services conglomerate Nomura Holdings is the latest major player in the country to develop an action plan for implementing NFTs.

Earlier this year, major Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten announced the launch of its own NFT trading platform dubbed Rakuten NFT.