In Brief:
- Korean crypto exchange Bithumb revealed plans to launch an NFT marketplace.
- Many news sources suspect that the platform is being developed in collaboration with LG CNS.
- The identity of artists who are planning to release work as NFTs for Bithumb is yet to be confirmed.
South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb announced its plans to launch an NFT marketplace.
Bithumb CEO Heo Baek-young noted in an interview that the exchange was developing an NFT marketplace in order to compete with the two other domestic Korean exchanges, Upbit and Korbit.
Multiple South Korean news sources have reported that the NFT platform is being developed in collaboration with tech juggernaut LG CNS, a subsidiary of LG.
“It is impossible to confirm whether it is LG CNS and whether it is just them or a group of companies,” a Bithumb representative stated.
There has yet to be any confirmation of the identity of the content creators or artists who have decided to release work as NFTs for Bithumb.
Bithumb now ranks second among Korean exchanges in terms of trading volume, but it is at a distant second to Upbit, which has $1.7B in 24-hour trading volume in comparison to Bithumb’s $730M.
In June 2021, the Korbit crypto exchange was the first in South Korea to launch an NFT platform. Korbit is Korea’s fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange, with a 24-hour trading volume of about $7M.
Heo Baek-young stated this regarding the NFT platform launch, “An NFT marketplace will be important in promoting blockchain-based content, which will become a driving force in the future.”
South Korea and its attitude towards NFTs keep on fluctuating in recent times. At the beginning of the year, Lee Jae-Myung, the official progressive presidential candidate for the ruling Democratic Party of SK announced plans to raise political race assets through a blockchain stage and prize NFTs to givers.
Last November, the South Korean financial regulator Financial Services Commission (FSC) revealed its intention to implement a tax system for NFTs under the specified financial transaction information act.
