Korea Blockchain Week and Key Crypto Industry Prospects

• Korea Blockchain Week in Seoul attracted over 17,000 people and 300 speakers
• The conference was attended by key figures like Vitalik Buterin, Richard Teng, and Mark Karpeles
• Speakers raised key topics such as the successes of blockchain scaling last years
• However, they noted the lack of sufficient end-user applications
• They also expressed concerns about regulatory ambiguity and the U.S. elections

The Korea Blockchain Week conference attracted a record 17,000 visitors and 300 speakers, as well as key industry figures such as Vitalik Buterin, Richard Teng, and Mark Karpeles.

In many ways, the conference summarized the multiple successes of blockchain technology scaling to become quite efficient through L2 solutions.

However, all noted that there is still a lot of work to be done to develop enough end applications on top of these networks to be really interesting and convenient for end users.

There are also growing concerns about regulation in the US, especially in the context of the upcoming 2024 elections and the resulting legislative initiatives.

Overcoming the Limitations of Blockchain Protocols

Many Web3 companies and beyond have been working hard through the ups and downs to make blockchain infrastructure efficient enough to improve speed and stability and reduce transaction costs.

This has been greatly aided by the development of L2 solutions, which at their core now allow sufficient space for a wide variety of decentralized applications.

Of particular note in this context is Sony’s most high-profile recent entrant with their launch of Soneum and very active integration with other solutions, creating one of the key Web3 ecosystems.

However, it is now the turn to create enough applications that could become interesting and convenient enough for ordinary users, because previously their development could not rely on sufficient infrastructure and that is why we are now experiencing a shortage of them.

Also, a big role is given to efficient content creation and distribution, IP specifically in the world of IP content tracking.

“I think the expectations for real application content have significantly increased,” said Simon Kim, CEO of Hashed, a venture capital firm focusing on blockchain and crypto. 

“For the past six years, we’ve developed various infrastructure — roads and highways — in the crypto world. Now, we need to focus on things people enjoy or use such as convenience stores, clothing stores, and department stores,” according to Steve Lee, co-founder of Neoclassic Capital, a Miami-based crypto investment firm backed by venture capitalists Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, and Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik.

“While the West may continue to lead in infrastructure development, we view Asia as having greater potential for these [web3 consumer use cases] compared to the West. Countries like Japan and Korea – have been leaders in adopting new technologies faster than any other country in the world,” Neoclassic representatives said.

Integrating Blockchain Into Traditional Services

There was also a big focus on the fact that traditional enterprises from the Web2 era and earlier need to adopt blockchain to stay competitive.

Justin Kim, head of Asia at Ava Labs, more are developing their own blockchain solutions on Avalanche:

“The list includes California DMV, Konami Digital Entertainment, Nexon MapleStory Universe, OtherWorld’s Solo Leveling animation, and financial institutions such as JP Morgan and Citi.”

This also includes real asset tokenization, which is very active among traditional companies, namely Republic, a New York-based investment platform, tokenizing funds to support film financing, IT consulting firm Questry, and Japanese bank Mizuho Securities tokenizing a fund to support animated content production.

A particularly striking recent trend is the creation of stablecoins and the recent example of PayPal, namely their launch of their own PYUSD, and the Japanese Line and Telegram apps that are integrating blockchain wallets and trying to launch their native tokens.

Simon also joins in, saying that Hashed is partnering with other traditional companies such as Korea’s HYBE, Japan-headquartered Nexon, South Korean financial institutions KB Kookmin Bank, and Siam Commercial Bank in Thailand.

Of course, the recent arrest of Pavel Durov and his attempts to launch a native token, TON, has taken some of the spotlight. Plus, it has raised questions about U.S. regulations regarding crypto and the ambiguity of the issue in the context of the 2024 election.

Despite that, a comprehensive regulatory framework for seamless Asia region blockchain developments is still needed.

“The main concern we hear is the need for regulatory clarity across different Asian jurisdictions,” said Manche of Movement Labs. “However, this is driving a push for more coherent, innovation-friendly policies. Regulatory clarity should improve globally, potentially accelerating institutional adoption. We also foresee a focus on sustainable blockchain solutions and innovative token economics.”

Conclusions

The conference turned out to be extremely intense, deservedly very optimistic, but realistically highlighted how much work is still ahead.

It’s a great event that once again reminded us that even though the US is influencing crypto adoption like no other country – Asia is ahead of it in many ways, and it’s simply an obligation to keep an eye out for all crypto investors and enthusiasts.