Web3 Watch: Kakao and LINE unite to launch the L1 mainnet Kaia

Kaia, a Layer-1 blockchain, officially launched its mainnet this past Thursday. This initiative is a collaboration between South Korean and Japanese Web2 messaging giants Kakao and LINE, resulting from the merger of their previously launched Layer-1 blockchains, Klaytn and Finschia.

Taking a page out of Telegram’s TON blockchain playbook, Kaia builders will be able to leverage a suite of available SDKs and APIs to create native dApps that can be integrated directly within the LINE messenger.

As part of the Kaia Wave builder support program, developers using the NEXT WEB SDK package will be eligible for grants, with up to $1.2 million available per team for marketing, technical, and business support.

Kakaotalk is used by 96% of South Koreans, while LINE messenger is the leading messenger app in Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand. Together, they have an estimated combined user base of more than 250 million, according to a press release provided to Blockworks. For comparison, Telegram has a user base of 900 million monthly active users.

Dr. Sam Seo, Chairman of Kaia DLT Foundation, said: “The much-anticipated launch of the Kaia mainnet heralds a new era for the mass consumer adoption of blockchain-based services. Kaia will bring web3 to the rest of the world, starting from Asia.”

Coinbase continues partnership with Borussia Dortmund

Coinbase announced back in August 2022 that it had initiated a partnership with Borussia Dortmund (BVB), one of Germany’s most successful football clubs. This partnership initially involved running Coinbase ads on the video screens at Dortmund’s home stadium, Signal Iduna Park, during matches.

This week, Coinbase and BVB renewed and significantly expanded their partnership. The collaboration now extends beyond Germany to include Europe and Singapore, with a broader range of marketing activities. Coinbase’s presence in BVB’s home stadium will increase, with the company serving as the presenter of all home game substitutions.

“Coinbase has a growing team in Germany, and we were the first crypto platform licensed by the German financial regulator,” Jan Sell, Managing Director of Coinbase Germany said, “We are thrilled to expand our partnership beyond Germany to reach BVB fans in other markets.”

The partnership will see collaboration between Coinbase and BVB on “easy-to-use blockchain-based activations for fans,” said the press release.

BlockDAG, the blockchain company behind DAG chain, also announced a $10 million three-year partnership with BVB on Wednesday.

One interesting stat:

Donald Trump’s fourth NFT trading card collection “Series 4: The America First Collection” has sold 24,475 editions, raising $2.42 million at $99 per mint at time of publication.

Also of note:

• The PGA Tour, Stratton Studios, and Chain Games Ireland are collaborating to launch a blockchain-powered mobile golf game called PGA TOUR RISE in 2026. The partnership intends to release the first minigame from this project in late 2024.
• Lombard Finance, a DeFi platform incubated by Polygon, launched a liquid yield-bearing token called LBTC on Wednesday. The token, which is backed 1:1 by Bitcoin, allows users to earn yield while holding BTC and can be utilized across various DeFi protocols.

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