LINE says it’s not in bed with Sony’s Soneium after all

LY Company denied that its Web3 enterprise, Line Subsequent, had entered right into a enterprise partnership with Soneium, a Sony-backed Ethereum layer-2 community.

The assertion, issued on March 28, adopted media studies and social media protection that recommended a partnership had been finalized between LY and Soneium.

“These studies have been primarily based on an announcement made by Soneium on [March 12] that it plans to develop its enterprise through the use of the LINE API and LINE Mini Apps on our platform, though no enterprise partnership or the like has been established between Soneium and LY Company,” LY said.

In response, a Soneium spokesperson advised Cointelegraph: “Our March 12 announcement refers to a collaboration, which entails exploring the combination of onchain Mini Apps inside the Line ecosystem. We stand by the accuracy of all content material revealed in our official assertion.

“LY Company has additionally directed readers to our announcement for context and clarification. Moreover, Soneium obtained permission to reference Line in that announcement, and the Kaia Mini App shouldn’t be unique to any single supplier,” the spokesperson added.

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Japanese tech titans and their blockchain ventures

LY Company is a Japanese tech big shaped via the merger of a number of main entities, together with Line — Japan’s largest messaging platform — and Yahoo Japan. The 2023 merger additionally introduced Line’s Web3 arm, Line Subsequent, underneath the LY umbrella.

Line Subsequent was established in late 2021 and raised $140 million in December 2023 from a consortium led by Crescendo Fairness Companions. In January, it launched “Mini Dapps,” which provide video games and social content material inside the LINE messenger — echoing the recognition of Telegram’s Mini Apps, which soared in reputation via tap-to-earn video games and airdrops.

Line’s Mini Dapps are powered by Kaia, a layer-1 blockchain shaped by merging Line’s Finschia chain with Kakao’s Klaytn community. On March 6, Line introduced that its Mini Dapps had surpassed 35 million customers.

Like Line Subsequent, Soneium is backed by a Japanese tech heavyweight, on this case, Sony. Developed by Sony Block Options Labs, Soneium launched its mainnet in January with options comparable to NFTs tied to Amazon Prime Video content material.

Soneium faucets into the worldwide energy of Japanese anime

On March 28, Soneium announced a separate partnership with Animoca Manufacturers to advertise anime tradition in Web3.