When South Korean cryptocurrencies Luna and TerraUSD collapsed in May, their failures cost the entire crypto economy $300 billion in losses, sparking public outcry and multiple investigations against cryptocurrency creator Do Kwon. But that, and the broader ‘crypto winter’ of slashing prices across the industry, doesn’t seem to curb South Korea’s appetite for web3.
Korea Blockchain Week kicked off this weekend with over 7,000 registered attendees and over 120 speakers. This year’s event was one of the biggest in Asia, if not the world, according to Chung Sung-ik, the event’s CEO.
One of the keynote speakers, Seo Sang-min, who runs the Klaytn Foundation, a prominent Korean blockchain company, attributes the popularity of the event to South Korea’s tech orientation. “Despite the Luna-Terra crash, the country is big on cryptocurrencies and one of the world’s technology centers,” he said in an interview.
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder and chief scientist of Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency operator after Bitcoin, also delivered a keynote address, emphasizing the need to make crypto trading more affordable for a wider range of users and the benefits of a decentralized financial system.
Cryptocurrencies first surged in South Korea in 2017 after Samsung, South Korea’s largest conglomerate, announced it would find enterprise use for Ethereum. Samsung SDS was the first South Korean company to join the Ethereum Alliance, which launched earlier that year in San Francisco to facilitate business deals.
Since then, South Korea’s cryptocurrency market has grown to be one of the largest in the world. The country’s crypto assets increased to 55 trillion won at the end of last year, with a value of about $46 billion at the time, and the number of registered users of the trading platform he exceeded 15 million. Financial Services CommissionA few years ago, the South Korean government took a more cautious stance on cryptocurrencies and even considered banning them. More recently, however, governments have made moves to regulate the industry.
Seo believes the government’s change in approach is an acknowledgment of the industry’s potential. “The Metaverse and he believes Web3 has the potential to become more than just an investment vehicle, creating new jobs and solving real-world problems,” he said.
