The characters that started as stickers on the LINE messaging app are getting a crypto payment option. IPX, the company formerly known as LINE FRIENDS, plans to let shoppers pay with a token
The characters that started as stickers on the LINE messaging app are getting a crypto payment option.
IPX, the company formerly known as LINE FRIENDS, plans to let shoppers pay with a token called minicoin at its online and offline stores.
The rollout is planned in phases in the first half of 2027, across stores in Korea and abroad. The company has not confirmed a U.S. launch, and nothing changes at checkout today.
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The service will let customers buy physical merchandise with minicoin at LINE FRIENDS stores. IPX says it is meant to make digital asset payments a natural extension of the fan experience, linking character merchandise to a Web3-based ecosystem.
Minicoin is a utility coin developed and issued by Mini Labs, not by IPX itself. Mini Labs operates under an official license from IPX to use the company's minini characters.
IPX says the coin's blockchain-based ecosystem is designed to record fan activity, including creation, consumption and transactions, and link it to settlement.
IPX points to K-POP SQUARE, the store it opened in Seoul's Hongdae district in June 2025. The location drew more than one million visitors in its first year, and about 80% of them were international fans from more than 90 countries.
The company expects demand from overseas visitors as digital assets become more common as payment methods.
"This service rollout marks an important step toward using digital assets to purchase physical merchandise, beyond trading and use within specific platforms," an IPX official said in the announcement.
LINE FRIENDS began with characters including BROWN, CONY and SALLY, created as stickers for the LINE messaging app and its 200 million active users. The company rebranded as IPX and says it now operates in 18 markets and on eight online sales platforms.
Its portfolio includes BT21, created with BTS, and ZO&FRIENDS, created with G-DRAGON. IPX has also partnered with Netflix on an original animated series and with game developer HoYoverse. None of those partnerships covers minicoin, which is Mini Labs' project under the minini license.
IPX has not named which stores or countries beyond Korea will be first, and the first-half-2027 target could move.
