UPDATED 21:44 EDT / JANUARY 31 2018

EMERGING TECH

Bitcoin boost: LINE, Samsung and Square all announce new cryptocurrency products

Despite negative headlines about the future of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies of late, it turns out a number of leading companies didn’t get the memo: LINE Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Square Inc. have all announced new cryptocurrency related services in the last 36 hours.

Leading the pack was a surprise announcement from messaging app service provider LINE that it will launch a new company to provide digital currency services. Line Financial Corp., a follow-up to LINE’s existing LINE Pay mobile payments service, will offer a variety of financial services, including “a place to exchange and transact virtual currencies, loans and insurance” from within the LINE app, the company said in a statement.

LINE didn’t reveal which cryptocurrencies the new service will support, but when it’s launched, it will immediately have a massive customer base to tap into: The company said its LINE Pay app has an annual transaction volume exceeding JPY 450 billion ($4.1 billion), reaching 40 million registered users. No launch date was given, since LINE is seeking regulatory approval in Japan.

In South Korea, never a dull country when it comes to cryptocurrency news, Samsung confirmed that it has begun manufacturing ASIC chips that are used mine cryptocurrencies. An ASIC, short for application-specific integrated circuit, is a form of chip customized for a particular use, in this case cryptocurrency mining.

“Samsung’s foundry business is currently engaged in the manufacturing of cryptocurrency mining chips,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch. “However we are unable to disclose further details regarding our customers.” The market is currently dominated by bitcoin mining-focused companies, including Bitmain and Antminer.

Back across the Pacific, mobile payments company Square Inc. today said it has expanded support for bitcoin trading within its app to most users after announcing a trial of the service in November. The service allows Square customers to buy and sell bitcoin but does not currently support the cryptocurrency as a payment option. Users are restricted to buying a maximum of $10,000 in bitcoin per transaction and the service is not available to users in New York, Georgia, Wyoming and Hawaii.

The announced was welcomed by the market, with shares in Square rising 3.1 percent in regular trading today.

“Instant buying (and selling, if you don’t want to hold) of bitcoin is now available to most Cash App customers,” Square Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said on Twitter. “We support bitcoin because we see it as a long-term path towards greater financial access for all. This is a small step.”

Image: Pixabay

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