The messaging app popular in Asia, LINE, is set to launch a stablecoin super app, allowing users to send and receive cross-border payments. According to reports, app users will be able to deposit stablecoins to earn real-time incentives, transfer funds via messages, and make online and in-store payments worldwide with spending rewards. This move underscores the debanking revolution that is unfolding with the speed, efficiency and low transfer costs of cryptocurrencies. The losers, of course – if they fail to adapt – are the antiquated payment systems tied to banks (think SWIFT) – and the banks themselves. As we reported last month, blockchain is presenting banks with their “Kodak Moment.”
In 1975, a Kodak engineer invented the first digital camera and in 1986 Kodak’s research labs developed the first mega-pixel camera. However, executives failed to make the right strategic choices to push into the digital camera sector, and, well, the rest is history.
“A generation ago, a “Kodak moment” meant something that was worth saving and savoring. Today, the term increasingly serves as a corporate bogeyman that warns executives of the need to stand up and respond when disruptive developments encroach on their market.”
As for the new LINE super app, the company is partnering with Layer 1 blockchain Kaia. They plan to offer a companion Unify software development kit (SDK) to target two groups: stablecoin issuers, who could distribute across borders to build liquidity and utility, and app developers, who could embed stablecoin features within their products. A Kaia representative said a key element is the stablecoin orchestration layer, noting that Asia’s payment infrastructure “remains highly fragmented,” and that Kaia aims to “consolidate it and drive cross-border financial inclusion.”
LINE has approximately 178 million monthly active users worldwide as of early 2025 and is mostly used in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand. These markets already have a strong crypto user base – which undoubtedly is set to grow further.