20.02.2022
South Korea ranked 5th in the Global Innovation Index, which may not come as a surprise considering that tech giants such as Samsung and LG are from this small East Asian country. South Korea is becoming more and more interested in non-fungible tokens (NFTs). In addition to its extensive high-tech industry, Korea is well known for its pop culture products such as K-pop and video games. Google Trends reports that South Korea ranks fourth globally in terms of interest in NFTs as of 1 November 2021. With NFT adoption skyrocketing, the reputation of South Korea as a technological innovator and leader is quickly spilling over into the blockchain sphere.
In collaboration with Nifty Gateway, a leading NFT platform, Samsung plans to integrate an NFT marketplace into its next generation Micro LED, Neo QLED, and Lifestyle TVs.
“Leveraging Samsung’s and Nifty Gateway’s technology, customers can seamlessly browse, display, and interact with NFTs from the comfort of their couch. In addition, customers will have access to more than 6,000 art pieces from emerging and top artists including Beeple, Daniel Arsham, Pak, and more.” - Raquel Prieto
“In 2022, Samsung is introducing the world’s first TV screen-based NFT explorer and marketplace aggregator,” “a groundbreaking platform that lets you browse, purchase, and display your favourite art — all in one place.” - Samsung
South Korea has high rate of crypto adoption. According a survey done by the Federation of Korean Industries, 40% of South Koreans between the ages of 20 The adoption of crypto in South Korea is high. Approximately 40% of South Koreans between the ages of 20 and 30 own crypto, according to a survey by the Federation of Korean Industries. The total trading volume of crypto in the country exceeds that of the KOSPI stock exchange.
As Brian Newar of Cointelegraph pointed out, the lack of a tax on digital assets in South Korea has contributed to this increased adoption of NFTs. Furthermore, NFTs are not regulated as strictly as cryptocurrency.
“This has kept the market open to be filled by a litany of new marketplaces at exchanges such as Upbit and Bithumb and from other corporations such as gaming giant Krafton to profit from NFTS” - Brian Newar
Crypto currency taxation has already been delayed until 2023, but President-elect Seok-Yeol Yoon is expected to delay this even further to 2024. In addition, he distributed more than 4000 NFTs to appeal to young voters.
NFTs are being applied to education to improve transparency, accessibility, and provenance. Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea awarded its graduates with NFT certificates for the first time in the history of the country.
Graduates of the 2021 class of Hoseo University were awarded NFT certificates in a graduation ceremony in an effort to move from the paper-based system susceptible to forgery, degree alteration, and other manipulation practices. At the same time, by digitising certificate issuance, the university hopes to improve access to administrative services.
A national project for the creation of a metaverse ecosystem is slated to receive more than $187 million from South Korea’s Ministry of ICT, Science and Future Planning. The metaverse is generally associated with cryptocurrencies, and South Korea currently prohibits the use of NFTs and tokens in gaming. However, this funding will allow South Korea to take a more structured approach to creating what can be called a government driven metaverse.
Sources: Cointelegraph, Blockworks, and own research of #CryptoRobby
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