On August 6, LINK, cryptocurrency issued by Naver will be listed on BITMAX.

It is the first time to be listed on Japanese cryptocurrency exchange. LINK was first introduced on October 16th when it was listed on BITFRONT, a Singapore based cryptocurrency exchange.

On the same day, LINE was approved by the Japan Fair Trade Commission to integrate management right with Yahoo Japan’s parent company, Z Holdings. The Japan Fair Trade Commission announced that “the review result concluded that (management integration) would not substantially impede competition in a specific field on the premise that both companies would implement the proposed improvement measures.”

On November 18, last year, LINE had signed a basic agreement with Z Holdings to integrate management rights. Naver owns more than 70% of Line’s shares, and Softbank owns 40% of Z Holdings, which runs Yahoo Japan.

When the merging transaction between Naver and Softbank is completed, LINE becomes a joint venture in which Naver and Softbank divide their shares in half. The company will become the controlling shareholder of Z Holdings and own Yahoo Japan.

Currently, LINE has reached 80 million users in Japan and is called the “Japanese National Messenger”. Yahoo Japan also has 50 million users. LINE owns the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange BITBOX, and Yahoo Japan has gained a lot of attention in the blockchain industry as it has operated its own cryptocurrency exchange Tao Tao with the approval of the Japanese Finance Authority since May last year.

번역: 황영훈 기자