Japanese messaging app giant LINE is planning to build a custom blockchain designed to facilitate decentralized application development for its platform.

LINE is a subsidiary of South Korean Internet giant Naver. At the developer conference held last Friday, they released the 2018 technical roadmap development guideline. The company’s chief technology officer, Euivin Park, said she intends to take existing blockchain efforts a big step forward by launching a blockchain mainnet.

The platform Park envisions will build on top of LINE's existing products and leverage the cryptocurrency economy to incentivize and accelerate the development of decentralized applications (DApps), both by third parties and by LINE's own developers.

To this end, Park Yibin revealed that they are recruiting blockchain developers from Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia.

Shortly after the news was released, LINE established a blockchain subsidiary named Unblock in South Korea to focus on blockchain-related research and development. The newly established blockchain subsidiary will integrate the decentralized application into LINE's existing instant messaging platform in order to provide users with more functional services.

In January this year, it was reported that LINE plans to launch a cryptocurrency exchange and provide services through its payment application LINE Pay. However, the project currently needs permission from Japan’s Financial Services Agency before it can officially launch operations.