SoftBank's internet arm Line is working on a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that will be supported in 180 countries this spring, Bloomberg has learned, citing the company's top managers. SoftBank's Z Holdings Corp is reportedly spending "large sums of money" on the initiative as it wants to double the user base of PayPay, a smartphone payment service.
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Kentaro Kawabe, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Z Holdings, told Bloomberg that the holding believes in the disruptive role of Web3 and does not want to miss out on the "huge growth opportunity."
"We won’t hesitate to do merger and acquisition deals to boost our presence," Kawabe added.
Although Kawabe did not clarify the timetable of the initiative, he noted that the holding is ready to expand its five-year budget of roughly $4.3 billion for initiatives. In October 2021, Elliptic, a blockchain forensic firm, announced the close of a $60 million Series C funding round led by Evolution Equity Partners and Softbank's Vision Fund 2. The firm plans to use the proceeds for research and development purposes, with the team's expansion.
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