Webtoon platform Kakao Piccoma buys 50% of Japanese Sakura Exchange

Kakao Piccoma, a Japanese digital comics subscription service and subsidiary of Korean internet company Kakao, has purchased a 50% majority stake in Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, Sakura Exchange Bitcoin (SEBC).

This makes Kakao its largest shareholder, and the deal should also help Kakao offer cryptocurrency services on its Webtoon Piccoma platform and expand aggressively into Web3, according to local media. Piccoma is the largest webtoon platform in Japan, and in 2021 its app accounted for $1 billion in consumer spending after six years in the Japanese market.

The amount Kakao paid for his stake in the exchange was not disclosed.

SEBC is one of 30 crypto-asset exchanges registered in Japan with the Financial Services Agency (FSA) and lists 11 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP and Litecoin (LTC).

Related: Japan Plans To Tighten Crypto Exchange Regulations To Enforce Sanctions

In mid-March, Kakao founder Kim Beom-soo, also known as Brian Kim, left the board to focus on the company’s affiliated brands, especially the Kakao brand. Piccoma in Japan. The acquisition of SEBC is Kakao’s first merger and acquisition since Kim’s resignation.

Kakao has shown interest in the crypto space before. In August last year, Kakao launched two blockchain companies in Singapore, the Klaytn Foundation, a non-profit organization and Krust, a global accelerator for the adoption of blockchain technology.

Kakao also runs a blockchain-focused subsidiary called Ground X, which won a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) tender from the Bank of Korea in July 2021, becoming the leading technology provider for blockchain-based digital won simulations.

Previously, the company was also one of the first investors in the Upbit exchange, the first crypto exchange to file with South Korean financial regulators.

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