LINE Denies Sony Soneium Partnership
Let’s set the record straight: LY Corporation has denied the buzz about their Web3 project, Line Next, entering into a business partnership with Soneium. You know, Soneium, the Ethereum layer-2 network with Sony’s backing.
This clarification, released on March 28th, comes after a flurry of media reports and social chatter hinted that LY Corp and Soneium had sealed a partnership deal.
But LY Corporation explained, “These reports stemmed from Soneium’s announcement back on [March 12th]. They mentioned plans to grow their business by tapping into the LINE API and LINE Mini Apps on our platform. However, to be clear, no formal business partnership or anything of that nature has actually been established between Soneium and LY Corporation.”
Soneium’s own spokesperson chimed in, responding to Cointelegraph with their take:
“Actually, there isn’t a formal partnership between us and LY Corporation. Our announcement on March 12th, which you can see here, was about a *collaboration*. We’re looking into how we might integrate on-chain mini-apps within the LINE ecosystem. We stand behind everything we put in our official statement as being accurate.”
The Soneium rep continued, “LY Corporation also pointed people to our announcement for the full picture and to clear up any confusion. Plus, just so you know, Soneium did get the go-ahead to mention LINE in that announcement.”
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Japanese tech giants making moves in blockchain
Now, for a bit of background: LY Corporation is a real powerhouse in Japanese tech. It was created through the merger of some huge names, including Line – you know, Japan’s most popular messaging app – and Yahoo Japan. When they merged in 2023, Line’s Web3 division, Line Next, also came under the LY umbrella.
Line Next got its start back in late 2021 and even secured a cool $140 million in funding in December 2023. This funding round was led by Crescendo Equity Partners. Then, in January, they launched “Mini Dapps.” These are like little apps offering games and social stuff right inside the LINE messenger. Sound familiar? It’s pretty much the same idea as Telegram’s Mini Apps, which got super popular thanks to those tap-to-earn games and airdrops everyone was into.
And get this, Line’s Mini Dapps are powered by Kaia, a layer-1 blockchain that’s a result of combining Line’s Finschia chain with Kakao’s Klaytn network. On March 6th, Line proudly announced that their Mini Dapps had already attracted over 35 million users. That’s some serious traction!
Turns out, the top Mini Dapp raked in $773,000 in its launch month on Line. Source: Line Corporation
Just like Line Next, Soneium also has a major Japanese tech backer – in their case, Sony. Developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs, Soneium launched its mainnet in January, and it’s got some interesting features like NFTs linked to Amazon Prime Video content.
Soneium is betting big on the global appeal of Japanese anime
In other Soneium news, on March 28th, they announced a separate partnership with Animoca Brands focusing on promoting anime culture in Web3.
Through this team-up, Animoca’s digital identity platform, Moca Network, will build a decentralized identity layer on Soneium. They’re starting with Anime ID, which will be like a reputation-based identifier for anime superfans.
This move comes as anime is becoming even more of a global phenomenon. Rahul Purini, president of Crunchyroll, the anime streaming app, mentioned in a media interview in 2024 that Crunchyroll’s research found a massive 800 million people *outside* of China and Japan (where access to Crunchyroll’s content is more restricted) are watching anime. That’s a huge audience!
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