Korea Blockchain Industry

Blockchain technology-based review and market research in Korea

In 2017, Korea has established its own place in the Blockchain market. Korea’s domestic cryptocurrency transactions amounted up to 3.61 Billion Dollars (3.93 Trillion Won), accounting for 29.8% of the world’s cryptocurrency transactions. South Korea has maintained 6~12% of transaction amount in the whole Bitcoin market and is ranked 3rd in the world. In addition, 54.7% of the world’s Altcoin was traded in Korea and emerged as a hub for Korea cryptocurrency transactions. However, there is a high concern about whether this will lead to an industry.

Phase1 — The Blockchain industry can be divided into three stages.

Cryptocurrency — represented by the Exchanges and ICO.
DApp(decentralized application) — represented by the services.
Industry — technology that is used throughout

In the cryptocurrency level, Korea occupies a distinct position. In September last year, China’s regulations on Exchange and the ban of ICOs put a lot of investors and projects designated to the Korean market. In particular, the proportion of Koreans in the ICO of QTUM was ranked 3rd, and other DApps visited Korea for successful ICO. Hereupon, rumors among Chinese projects have begun to spread, saying “if I go to Korea, I can succeed in ICO.” Eventually, new projects were listed on the Exchange and investment was also very high. When listed on the Korea Exchange, the price has risen several times much more. Coinest has also been invested from the Quantum Foundation and the Bitmain. There was also an article saying that three out of five workers have been repeatedly investing in cryptocurrency. In process, Korea’s top 4 Exchanges have settled in between the 20th place in 2017, and some exchanges remained in 2~3rd place as of now.

Phase2 — Projects that find Korea, Projects that leave Korea

Will Phase1 proceed to the next level? It is widely believed that the investment boom will scatter and the Blockchain industry will rise in a boom within the next few years. In other words, the current “bubble” will disappear, and the “scam” projects will be revealed, and the Blockchain industry will be hit hard. In fact, this is a natural process from P1 to P2. But there will a big clash in the Korean Blockchain industry. The number of projects in Korea’s investment market has increased, but it is because projects happen to leave Korea for further business. Due to the government regulations, even Korean projects are reluctant to establish corporations in Korea. Most are setting up corporations in countries like Gibraltar that are subjected to large regulatory jurisdictions, or countries that support Blockchain companies like Switzerland or Singapore. Above all, there is not enough infrastructure to support the Blockchain technology. In order for an industry to develop, total support from the government, business, and private sector is needed.

The Chinese government is conservative on Exchanges and ICOs, but actively support the Blockchain technology. BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) IT companies are researching and developing the Blockchain technology by establishing a research institute inside. Alibaba is the largest Blockchain patents in the world. Node Capital invested in about 150 Blockchain projects and create a global incubating center. It is also building the foundation of the Blockchain industry through education. The Wanshang Group is investing in Blockchain companies through Fenbushi Capital with the aim of building a smart city in Hangzhou by 2025. A number of DApps are building ecosystems around strong platforms like QTUM and NEO. Recently, aelf, BTN, etc. have been receiving much attention as Blockchain 3.0 platform.

Phase3 — Korea, needs to progress Phase2

Korea has a major weakness in the lack of services to be commercialized in comparison to the position Korea is at in the cryptographic market. There are services like Icon(ICON) and MediBloc but there are needs for services in various fields. In recent years, incubator institutions such as Incublock have attracted excellent projects from all over the world, and to cultivate skills in connection with academia. Blockchain is a technology that connects people to people, people and industries, and between countries and countries. And, should focus on early speculative market and not miss the flow of big industry. It is a time where government, businesses, and private sectors gather to make a leap into an “industry,” rather than Blockchain market.