SoftBank and Naver Corporation to launch an NFT marketplace

The Japanese holding company Z Holdings, owned by SoftBank and Naver Corporation, plans to launch an NFT trading platform. Bloomberg reports.

According to a SoftBank executive, the marketplace will begin operating as early as spring 2022 in 180 countries.

Z Holdings owns Yahoo Japan, Japan’s largest messaging app, Line, and the PayPay mobile payments service.

As part of its development strategy, the group will focus on Web 3.0, an umbrella term encompassing a growing range of blockchain applications such as crypto exchanges, DeFi services, and NFT marketplaces.

“Web 3.0 may herald a world in which life is very different, and we do not want the company to miss a huge growth opportunity. We will not hesitate to pursue mergers and acquisitions to expand our presence,” said Z Holdings CEO Kentaro Kawabe.

The group’s owners are actively investing in the sector. SoftBank has backed projects such as the Mercado Bitcoin cryptocurrency exchange, the NFT platform Sorare, the infrastructure startup Blockdaemon, and the developer metaverse Zepeto of its partner Naver.

In 2021, media reported that Naver was in talks regarding the purchase of a stake in Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb.