People Flock to South Korean Crypto Event Despite Market Turmoil

When the South Korean cryptocurrencies Luna and TerraUSD collapsed in Might, their failures contributed to a $300 billion loss throughout the crypto economic system; public outcries for Do Kwon, the cryptocurrencies’ creator, to go to jail; and a number of investigations. However that, and a broader “crypto winter” dragging down costs throughout the trade, don’t seem to have curbed South Korea’s urge for food for all issues web3.

Korea Blockchain Week opened this weekend with greater than 7,000 individuals registered to attend and over 120 audio system on the lineup. In line with the occasion’s chief govt officer, Jeon Seon-ik, this yr’s occasion was one of many largest of its variety in Asia, if not the world.

One of many keynote audio system, Search engine optimization Sang-min, who runs the Klaytn Basis, a outstanding South Korean blockchain firm, attributed the occasion’s reputation to a South Korean penchant for tech.

“Regardless of the Luna-Terra crash, the nation is large on crypto and is likely one of the tech facilities of the world,” he mentioned in an interview.

Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder and the chief scientist at Ethereum, the system that runs the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, additionally gave a keynote speech. He emphasised the necessity to make crypto transactions extra inexpensive for a wider vary of customers and selling the advantages of a decentralized monetary system.

Cryptocurrency first surged in South Korea in 2017 after the nation’s largest conglomerate, Samsung, introduced that it might discover a company use for Ethereum. Samsung SDS was the primary Korean enterprise to hitch the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, which began in San Francisco that yr to facilitate enterprise transactions.

Since then, South Korea’s crypto market has grown to be one of many largest on the planet. The nation’s crypto belongings grew to 55 trillion gained on the finish of final yr, value about $46 billion on the time, with greater than 15 million registered customers of buying and selling platforms, based on the nation’s Monetary Companies Fee. A number of years in the past, the South Korean authorities adopted a extra cautious stance on cryptocurrencies, and even thought-about banning them. Extra not too long ago, although, the federal government has moved to manage the trade.

Mr. Search engine optimization believes that the federal government’s shift in method is an acknowledgment of the trade’s potential. “The metaverse and web3 have potential to be greater than a method of funding, create new jobs and clear up real-world issues,” he mentioned.