LINE NEXT Unifi Pay Pre-Reg Opens for Zero-Fee Stablecoin Payments

LINE NEXT opened developer pre-registration for Unifi Pay on June 30, with a global launch planned for the third quarter. The payment infrastructure will support Tether’s USDT, the yen-pegged JPYC, and the rupiah-pegged IDRP from day one. A beta version processed 100 billion Korean won in cumulative payments and settlements over the past year, the company said in an announcement reported by CoinPost.

LINE NEXT is the U.S.-based affiliate of LINE Yahoo, the Japanese internet group that runs LINE Messenger. The messaging app has roughly 300 million users across Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia. That installed base gives Unifi Pay a distribution advantage that earlier crypto payment rails – BitPay, Flexa, or various merchant-processing layers – did not have. Those services typically had to build a user base from scratch or rely on a single exchange.

Unifi Pay sits on top of the Unifi stablecoin wallet. The wallet-based structure connects users and suppliers directly and removes payment fees from the transaction, according to LINE NEXT. The company said settlement takes about one second on average. Merchants and developers can route settlement funds to bank accounts through connected crypto exchanges and blockchain remittance services.

In Japan and Indonesia, users can complete online identity verification and top up JPYC or IDRP directly from their bank accounts. LINE NEXT said it plans to add local stablecoins in more countries as each market’s regulations allow. That phrasing is careful. Japan’s Financial Services Agency has a licensing regime for digital payment tokens, and JPYC is already regulated there. Adding fiat on-ramps and wallet-based payments could trigger additional oversight. Indonesia’s central bank has been cautious about stablecoin use for payments.

Why the Distribution Base Matters

The zero-fee model has been tried in crypto before. Most attempts either capped out at small merchant networks or required users to hold a specific token. LINE NEXT’s advantage is the existing messenger infrastructure. LINE Messenger already handles payments in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia, where it reported nearly 200 million monthly active users in September 2025. The company can plug Unifi Pay into that flow without asking users to download a new app or learn a new interface.

Kaia, the blockchain formed from the 2024 merger of LINE’s Finschia and Kakao’s Klaytn, described its earlier Project Unify as a stablecoin super-app that would bring payments, yield, on/off-ramps, and access to more than 100 decentralized apps into LINE Messenger. Unifi Pay appears to be the payment layer of that vision, now being opened to outside developers.

Regulatory Risk and the Reward Structure

The 5% annual reward on stablecoin holdings is a cost that must be covered from somewhere – float income, transaction fees on other services, or cross-subsidies from LINE Yahoo’s advertising business. If the reward is paid out of pocket, the zero-fee model becomes more expensive the more transaction volume Unifi Pay attracts. LINE NEXT did not disclose the source of the reward funds.

Regulatory risk is material. Japan’s Financial Services Agency has been strict on stablecoin issuance and custody. LINE NEXT is offering a wallet that holds third-party stablecoins, which may fall under the Payment Services Act depending on how the wallet is structured. In Indonesia, the central bank has yet to approve stablecoins for retail payments outside pilot programs. LINE NEXT’s commitment to add local stablecoins “depending on each market’s regulations” suggests no fixed timeline for expansion.

The beta volume of 100 billion Korean won translates to roughly 10 billion Japanese yen at the conversion rate cited in the announcement (1 won to 0.1 yen). That is a modest number for a payment system with access to 300 million users. Widespread adoption will require merchants to accept stablecoins and users to choose the wallet over existing payment apps.

LINE NEXT CEO Youngsu Ko said the company plans to establish Unifi Pay as a payment infrastructure connecting developers, creators, and users globally through its developer tools. The statement did not specify revenue targets or user adoption milestones.

Developer pre-registration is open now. LINE NEXT said the global launch is scheduled for the third quarter. Investors and builders watching the Asian crypto payments space should track which additional stablecoins LINE NEXT adds and how quickly the SDK sees real integration. A single large merchant or platform adopting Unifi Pay would be a stronger signal than beta volume numbers alone. For broader context on the crypto payment infrastructure race, see crypto market analysis.

LINE NEXT Unifi Pay Pre-Reg Opens for Zero-Fee Stablecoin Payments

Why the Distribution Base Matters

Regulatory Risk and the Reward Structure

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