Japan’s top messenger company Line and Nomura Holdings, Japan’s leading financial group, will cooperate to spur their blockchain projects.

Line said Wednesday that its blockchain unit LVC Corporation had signed a memorandum of understanding with Nomura to begin discussions on forming a financial alliance focused on blockchain technology. Nomura is expected to take part in LVC’s rights issue. With the alliance, Line and Nomura are likely to forge direct cooperative ties, using LVC as an axis.

The two companies plan to conclude the contract by the end of March this year. Such issues as effects of the alliance, Japanese authorities’ approval and their agreement on operations will be among the factors to be discussed by the two companies.

The alliance is quite significant in that it is a marriage between a leading IT company and a traditional financial firm in Japan. Nomura is a prominent financial group having a global franchise and Line boasts more than 78 million active users. /shim@decenter.kr

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