Line Plus, the South Korean subsidiary of Naver-owned Line Corp., on Tuesday announced the launch of Unchain, a joint venture with global integrated blockchain network platform Icon.

The company expects Unchain to work in tandem with Unblock, another blockchain technology business unit established by Line Plus last month, to build various decentralized apps running on a blockchain network. 


According to the company, Unchain will work with Icon’s blockchain network to create a token economy platform with a strong reward system for users. It is also charged with developing Line’s blockchain main net and decentralized app services.

Line and Icon have tapped Lee hong-kyu, the founder and CEO of Icon, to serve as CEO of their new joint venture Unchain.

“We expect to promote an array of blockchain-based decentralized app services for daily use,” said Lee in a statement. “The rise of these services is expected to catalyze the growth of Line and the Icon blockchain ecosystem.”

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)