Domestic companies are focusing their attention on blockchain in earnest. From last year to the beginning of this year, the game industry actively started building a blockchain ecosystem by issuing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies.
On the 28th, SK Square, an investment company specializing in SK Group, announced its own cryptocurrency issuance plan at the first regular general meeting of shareholders held at the office building in Euljiro, Seoul. The plan is to issue its own cryptocurrency in the third quarter of this year and start listing on the exchange within the fourth quarter.
The cryptocurrency developed by SK Square is expected to be applied to various services of SK Group. Cryptocurrencies promoted by SK Square can be used in SK Telecom’s metaverse platform ‘Ifland’ and SK Planet’s membership points. An NFT exchange will also be established within IFLAND to provide linked services.
Meanwhile, SK Square has not hidden its interest in blockchain technology. In November of last year, SK Square made its first investment worth 87.3 billion won in the cryptocurrency exchange ‘Korbit’, and saw the blockchain industry as a future growth engine. And with the blueprint announced this time, the first direction of the blockchain business has been revealed.
◇Bitsum Meta, a gathering of domestic conglomerates LG, CJ, and SK affiliates
Dreamus Company, a subsidiary of SK Square, also entered the blockchain business. Dreamus Company, which operates music streaming app ‘FLO’, announced on the 28th that it would invest in Bitsum Meta and expand its business into Metaverse and NFT.
Bitsum Meta is a subsidiary of Bithumb Korea, the operator of the cryptocurrency exchange ‘Bitsum’, with a sole investment of 17 billion won.
Through this investment, Dreamus Company plans to collaborate as a content partner of BitsumMeta in the field of fandom content and music intellectual property (IP) industry to discover new business possibilities.
LG CNS and CJ OliveNetworks also participated in this Bitsum Meta investment. LG CNS is in charge of building the NFT marketplace, and CJ OliveNetworks is in charge of NFT production solutions. Both companies are conducting businesses using blockchain technology, and through this investment in BitsumMeta, they have established an alliance.
◇ Fintech company KG Inesis is also issuing its own cryptocurrency
The blockchain-based cryptocurrency business is also expanding into fintech companies. On the 25th, KG Inisys, a domestic electronic payment company, announced its ‘future business and management plan’ and announced its intention to enter the cryptocurrency business.
According to the disclosure, KG Inisys established a subsidiary of a special purpose corporation to start the cryptocurrency business in earnest in February. The stake is 100% owned by KG Inisys.
Like Danal Fintech, a subsidiary of Danal that currently supports the cryptocurrency ‘PayCoin’ as a payment method, it plans to support payment through KG Inesis’ cryptocurrency.
“With the development of blockchain technology, cryptocurrency has emerged as a new payment and settlement method beyond speculation,” a KG Inisys official said. We have been focusing on the PG business, which brokers e-commerce transactions for real assets such as cash and cash, but we have expanded our business to the cryptocurrency sector,” he said.
It is also pointed out that a clear goal is necessary for companies to enter the blockchain business. Hong Ki-hoon, a professor of business administration at Hongik University, said, “(Existing industries) use block chain technology to conduct business, but it is difficult to find a clear reason for why it should be block chain,” said Hong Ki-hoon. You will need to think about it,” he said.
