NFT arm of Japanese messenger LINE raises $140 million to expand its Web 3.0 ecosystem

This is the largest funding round in the Asian blockchain and Web 3.0 industry since the beginning of the year

13.12.2023 - 09:00

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What’s new? LINE NEXT, the South Korean NFT arm of Japan’s LINE Corporation, a provider and operator of the application of the same name, has raised $140 million to expand its Web 3.0 ecosystem. According to the press release, the funding round was “the largest funding round in the Asian blockchain Web3 industry for this year.” It was led by Crescendo Equity Partners, a private equity firm backed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.

Press release

What else is known? With the investment raised, LINE NEXT plans to launch its global NFT platform DOSI in January 2024. It will be integrated with the Japanese LINE NFT platform and launched as a mobile app for users worldwide.

LINE NEXT also intends to introduce Web 3.0 games featuring its existing characters known as BROWN & FRIENDS.

Kevin Lee, the managing partner of Crescendo, said that the firm hopes to create a standard for Web 3.0 applications aimed at a wide audience and introduce blockchain into all sorts of Web 2.0 services and brands.

For his part, LINE NEXT CEO Youngsu Ko said the team aims to “further popularize Web 3.0 and develop a new service ecosystem where users own the value of their digital goods.”

Peter Thiel’s fund sold most of its crypto assets before the market collapsed

The sale took place in March 2022 and generated $1,8 billion in revenue

On February 8, 2022, LINE representatives announced the integration of the native token into their application. And in mid-April, the messenger launched the NFT platform.

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