Unconfirmed: South Korean Internet Giant Kakao to Integrate Crypto Wallet in Messaging App

Kakao Corp is reportedly planning a crypto wallet-to-messenger integration after the commercial launch of the Klaytn platform.

South Korea’s biggest internet corporation Kakao will reportedly integrate its crypto wallet in its messaging app KakaoTalk, local financial news agency Fnnews reported on March 18.

According to the report, more than 44 million South Korean KakaoTalk users will be able send peer-to-peer transactions using Kakao’s crypto-powered wallet.

The South Korean messaging giant will reportedly integrate the wallet in KakaoTalk after the launch of blockchain platform Klaytn’s commercial service, a spin-off of Kakao’s subsidiary Ground X. Recently, Bloomberg reported that the company will conduct another $90 million-capped initial coin offering (ICO) after already raising $90 million.

According to Fnnews, Klaytn is scheduled for a commercial launch at the end of June 2019.

Previously, Cointelegraph had reported that Kakao spent more than $57 million on new technologies, including blockchain and artificial intelligence.

At the end of February, a Samsung official reportedly stated that the South Korean tech conglomerate’s new smartphone, the Galaxy S10, would have wallet functions for Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC) and two other tokens. The company had officially announced earlier that the phone would have storage for private cryptocurrency keys in an alleged Blockchain Keystore.

Recently, the New York Times had also reported that Facebook is working on a cryptocurrency project that is set to be incorporated into Facebook’s three fully-owned apps — WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram. According to the NYT’s assessments, Facebook’s alleged fiat-pegged stablecoin will have a combined exposure of 2.7 billion users.