South Korea’s Ministry of ICT, Science, and Future Planning pledged 223.7 billion KRW ($186.7 million) to create a broad Metaverse ecosystem to support the growth of digital content and corporate growth within the country. The Ministry wrote in an official statement on Feb. 27 that funds will be spent on completing four main objectives in creating what appears to be an all-encompassing Metaverse ecosystem titled the Expanded Virtual World. The government agency intends on using its Metaverse as a platform for expanding the virtual industrial growth of cities, education, and media. Content creators will enjoy support on multiple fronts to …

Kookmin Bank is preparing to become the first bank in South Korea to offer crypto investment products to retail investors. KB announced on Feb. 21 that it had formed a Digital Asset Management Preparatory Committee to determine product and strategy capabilities regarding digital assets and artificial intelligence investment funds. The bank expects to launch crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and futures products. The committee will also assess risk and compliance issues for the investment funds. The plans were confirmed by KB’s Head of Index Quant Management Honggun Kim in the official release from the bank. He said, “We will launch a …

On Jan. 30, the South China Morning Post reported that one of the largest Asian pharmaceutical companies, Zuellig, had launched a blockchain-based system to track the quality of COVID-19 vaccines. Called “eZTracker,” it allows any user to “instantly verify the provenance and authenticity” of vaccines by scanning the QR code on the package. Somewhat surprisingly, throughout the pandemic, there have not been many reports of blockchain-based products adopted by big pharma or global healthcare organizations to bolster the anti-COVID effort. Here is a rundown of the major cases of such adoption, along with possible reasons for the limited interest in …

A new partnership between global crypto exchange Binance and South Korean entertainment company YG will see the two companies strive for a more sustainable framework for future NFTs collaborations. YG manages a number of notable Kpop stars including BLACKPINK, BIG BANG, and WINNER. The Feb. 8 announcement stated the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will reportedly give Binance access to develop digital assets based on the IP (intellectual property) associated with these artists. Although the two companies didn’t provide any specific details for any upcoming NFT collections, they did confirm that creating NFTs in an “eco-friendly way” will be one of …

Starting on Jan. 27, the South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb will not allow users to withdraw their crypto assets to unverified private wallets. On Jan. 24, the exchange announced that it would be the second of the four major exchanges in the country to ban withdrawals to unverified wallets. Coinone enacted a similar policy late last month and the other major exchanges are Upbit and Korbit. The new policy states that users may only register their own private wallets. In order to perform the registration process, users must undergo an additional battery of know-your-customer identity verifications. Withdrawals to any domestic …

The Bank of Korea has successfully completed the first phase of its central bank digital currency mock testing started in August 2021. The South Korean central bank said that the first phase of its CBDC mock testing was completed in December while the second phase is currently underway, reported YNA news. The first phase of the mock test involved some of the basic functions of the sovereign digital currency such as distribution and issuance. The second phase of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot would test real-world functionalities such as cross-border remittance, retail payments and offline payments. The bank …

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb is developing an NFT marketplace with “a large company” thought to be LG CNS, a subsidiary of LG Corporation. Bithumb CEO Heo Baek-young confirmed in a Jan. 13 interview that the exchange was currently developing a nonfungible token (NFT) exchange which would help it stay competitive with Korbit and Upbit, two other domestic Korean exchanges. Heo said: “An NFT marketplace will be important in promoting blockchain-based content, which will become a driving force in the future.” There is no confirmation yet on the identity of the content creators or artists that have agreed to issue …

The ICON Foundation announced plans to launch an interoperability incentive program for 200 million ICX, or approximately $200 million at the time of publication. The foundation supports the development of the ICON network, South Korea’s largest public aggregator chain. The foundation said that it hopes this program will incentivize the ICON community and its partner networks to adopt ICON’s blockchain transfer protocol, or BTP. The incentive program aims to distribute up to 200 million ICX tokens over a period of five years, primarily funded by the ICX reserve allocation raised during the 2017 token sale. ICON intends to attract development …

Democratic Party (DP) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung prepares to use nonfungible tokens to raise funds for his campaign. The party will issue NFTs to those who donate money for the campaign for the upcoming presidential elections. The NFTs will contain images of the candidate and his pledges. In an interview with Yonhap News, campaign official Kim Nam-kook said the party is doing this to appeal to the younger generation. “As the young generation in their 20s and 30s are interested in emerging technologies, including virtual assets, NFTs and the metaverse, this type of fundraising could appeal to them," said Nam-kook. …

Major South Korean crypto exchanges including Upbit, Bithumb and Korbit will follow Coinone's lead in banning transfers to non-verified wallets, industry analysts say. Yesterday Coinone announced that it would reject deposits from unverified private wallets starting Jan. 24 to reduce the risk of money laundering. All Korean exchanges, including Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit and 20 others, are expected to implement similar or identical measures as Coinone by or before March 25. The Korean government set the deadline for exchanges to track coin transactions on and off their platforms accurately. Korean blockchain industry analyst Jun Hyuk Ahn told Cointelegraph, “Korean exchanges are …

South Korean crypto exchange Coinone has announced it plans to no longer allow withdrawals of tokens to unverified external wallets starting in January. In a Wednesday announcement, Coinone said users would have from Dec. 30 to Jan. 23 to register their external wallets at the exchange, after which time it would restrict withdrawals. The exchange specified that crypto users could only register their own wallets, and the verification process “may take some time” and could change in the future. According to Coinone, it planned to verify users’ names and resident registration numbers — issued to all residents of South Korea …

Dunamu, the operator of major South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, is progressing with blockchain development as its blockchain arm Lambda256 secured new funding. According to a Dec. 15 announcement, Lambda256 raised 70 billion Korean won ($60 million) in a Series B round, valuing the company at over $300 million. The firm is focused on enterprise-grade chains for businesses, building on its own blockchain protocol called Luniverse. The funding round included major venture capital firms and individual investors like tech giant Hanhwa Systems, travel tech startup Yanolja, bikes manufacturer Daelim, DSC Investments, Shinhan Venture Capital, KB Investments and SBI Investments. Dunamu …