LINE Xenesis Corporation — former Japanese crypto-asset exchange operator

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This entry sits under exchanges index. Read it with FSA crypto-asset exchange registration system — number system / Local Finance Bureau jurisdiction / registration requirements for adjacent context and Japan Financial Regulation — Legal Framework for Tokens, Crypto Assets, and Payments for the broader system boundary.

Former FSA registration: Kanto Local Finance Bureau No. 00017 · former JVCEA member #1020 · LINE BITMAX ended and the crypto-asset exchange business was discontinued on 2026-06-01

1. Corporate entity / shareholders

• Trade name: LINE Xenesis Corporation (LINE Xenesis株式会社; English name: LINE Xenesis Corporation)
• Established: 2018年1月31日
• Head office location: Floor 22, Sumitomo Fudosan Osaki Garden Tower, 1-1-1 Nishi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 〒141-0033
• Capital: 100百万円 (as of 2026年3月27日)
• Shareholder: LY Corporation (LINEヤフー株式会社) is the sole shareholder
  • LY Corporation is a holding company (listed on the TSE Prime) established in 2023年10月1日 through an intra-group reorganization of Z Holdings, LINE Corporation, Yahoo Japan Corporation, etc. Its English name is “LY Corporation”
  • LINE Xenesis’ corporate site (as of 2026年3月) lists the shareholder in Japanese as “LINEヤフー株式会社”
• Unlisted. Established as the crypto-asset-business subsidiary under the LINE Yahoo group

2. License / registration status

• Crypto-asset exchange business (historical): Kanto Local Finance Bureau No. 00017, registered on 2019-09-06. The business was discontinued on 2026-06-01, and LINE Xenesis is absent from the current FSA list retrieved on 2026-07-29.
• JVCEA Type-I membership (historical): member number 1020. The company is absent from the current member list checked on 2026-07-29.
• No registration as an electronic-payment-instruments transaction business or a funds-transfer business

3. Handled currencies

The following eight assets were publicly listed before closure, as of February 2026. They are not a current lineup:

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ethereum (ETH)
• Ripple (XRP)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
• Litecoin (LTC)
• Stellar Lumens (XLM)
• Kaia (KAIA) — the renamed and chain-migrated version of the former LINE Blockchain proprietary coin “LINK” (described below)
• Polkadot (DOT) — added in the crypto-asset-margin-trading service in 2026年1月

Note: in 2020年8月6日 it carried out the domestic listing of the LINE proprietary token “LINK (formerly LN).” LINK had been handled on the overseas exchange “BITBOX” from 2018年, but the domestic listing was first carried out in 2020年 after the registration procedures were completed. Subsequently, LINE Blockchain went through integration into the Finschia chain and a further rebranding to Kaia (KAIA), and the assets handled by LINE BITMAX also migrated to KAIA (based on public information).

This fixed list is a historical pre-closure snapshot. LINE Xenesis provides no crypto-asset trading after the service ended.

4. Scope of business

• Broker service (spot): launched on 2019-09-17. New purchases, sales, and withdrawals were stopped in stages during the 2026 closure process.
• Exchange, recurring purchases, lending, margin trading, and PayPay linkage: stopped in stages under the closure timetable; all functions became unavailable after 2026-06-01.

Its greatest feature was a UI directly accessible from the wallet tab of the LINE app, designed to be tradable from 1円, targeting beginners and small-amount investors.

LINE BITMAX ended at noon on 2026-06-01 and LINE Xenesis discontinued its crypto-asset exchange business. The official closure page stated that unreturned crypto assets would be converted to JPY at a reasonable and fair market price and refunded with JPY balances to registered accounts; where transfer was impossible, funds would be deposited with the Legal Affairs Bureau.

5. Market share / trading volume

• The official materials reviewed do not disclose standalone LINE BITMAX monthly trading volume or account numbers. The size of the LINE app user base should not be used to infer BITMAX accounts.
• The documented distinction was access through the LINE app and support for small-value transactions. With no comparable volume or account data, this entry assigns no domestic rank or “niche” label.

6. History / major events

The table is limited to corporate, registration, and service milestones confirmed on official LINE Xenesis, LINE BITMAX, LY Corporation, FSA, and JVCEA pages. Asset and feature descriptions are historical, pre-closure facts. ^[Sources: https://www.linexenesiscorp.com/; https://www.bitmax.me/endofservice_info; https://www.lycorp.co.jp/news/release; https://jvcea.or.jp/member/; https://www.fsa.go.jp/menkyo/menkyoj/kasoutuka.xlsx.]

7. Strategic developments

• Service closure: the official explanation cites changes in the crypto-asset market, intensifying competition, optimization of group resources, and a decision to concentrate on other growth areas.
• As for the NFT business, in 2024年 it consolidated into a global service (DOSI, etc.) linked to the Finschia/Kaia ecosystem, and LINE Xenesis’ direct operation had been scaled back
• This entry records the end of LINE BITMAX and the exchange business. The corporate entity’s continued existence or liquidation must be checked separately against official corporate information.

8. Related people

• Representative Director CEO: Lim Inkyu (林 仁奎) — the name is disclosed in the Japanese and English versions of the CEO message on the corporate site
• Details of the founder and the first-generation management team are not disclosed

Related

• japan-financial-regulation — Japan financial regulation as a whole
• japan-bittrade-listing-process — the general theory of listing processes (distinct from individual companies’ listing activities)
• japan-stablecoin-regulatory-landscape — related stablecoin system
• jp-vasp-ma-consolidation-history — JP VASP M&A consolidation history
• jp-vasp-parent-company-map — JP VASP parent-company map
• jp-cex-nft-marketplace-integration — JP CEX NFT marketplace integration

Sources

• LINE Xenesis corporate site (Japanese) (retrieved 2026-07-29)
• LINE Xenesis corporate site (English) (retrieved 2026-07-29)
• LINE BITMAX service-closure page (retrieved 2026-07-29)
• JVCEA member list (retrieved 2026-07-29)
• FSA crypto-asset exchange operator registration list Excel (retrieved 2026-07-29; LINE Xenesis absent)
• LINE Yahoo Corporation establishment press release (2023-10-01)