Top

Aptos charts success in South Korea through bridging Web2 and Web3

Web3 & Enterprise·November 15, 2023, 6:59 AM

Aptos, a major layer 1 blockchain network developed by the experts behind Meta’s canceled stablecoin payment system Diem, is growing in South Korea. In a recent Aptos Day conference held at the Hashed Lounge in Seoul, the Aptos team shared its vision for developing its ecosystem in Korea and attracting users by actively bringing content from Web2 to Web3, instead of simply focusing on cultivating a Web3-only ecosystem.

Photo by GuerrillaBuzz on Unsplash

David Wolinsky, a software engineer at Aptos and a former developer at Facebook, presented Aptos’ key advantages and achievements since its launch last year and outlined the blockchain’s future plans for growth.

 

High-speed Web3 powerhouse

In particular, he highlighted Aptos’ high compatibility with social media, its solid security framework built with the Move programming language and a rapid processing speed of up to 200,000 transactions per second (TPS) — with a time to finality (TTF) of less than one second. Thanks to this impressive speed, Wolinsky explained, lots of projects have onboarded the network, which is anticipated to grow into a bigger ecosystem with more decentralized applications (dApps).

Aptos has also carried out over 300 million transactions since its launch in October of last year, creating seven million unique addresses. Just two months following its launch, there were already over 200 projects on the blockchain. Aptos could thus play a significant role in revolutionizing Web3, which is currently dominated by the Ethereum virtual machine (EVM).

 

Facilitating the transition from Web2 to Web3

To grow the ecosystem further, Wolinsky emphasized the importance of bringing Web2 users to Web3 in an efficient and seamless manner. Aptos aims to achieve this by facilitating the creation of Aptos-based wallets through integration with platforms like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Google, allowing users to enjoy various dApps.

Wolinsky also noted that Aptos uses Move — an open-source programming language developed by Facebook for writing smart contracts on the Diem blockchain — which is designed to be developer-friendly, employing similar mechanisms that developers generally use to build applications on Web2. This language can attract not only Web2 users but also Web2 developers who are transitioning to Web3 without worrying about the complexity of the process. Aptos argues that Move is more secure than EVM’s Solidity language.

 

Positive prospects in Korea

Aptos also regards Korea as a key market for growth, as Korean developers are actively contributing to the Aptos ecosystem and providing helpful feedback. The blockchain disclosed that as of Q3 this year, Korea has 13 Aptos validators — second only after the U.S., which has 14.

Christie Lee, Head of Business Development and Partnerships in Korea at Aptos, argued that Korea is innovating the most at the larger corporate level while also contributing to the ecosystem. Lots of endeavors are playing out in the Korean market, she said, as regulatory restrictions in fields like gaming, entertainment, finance and more are starting to loosen.

She also added that the Korean market is not only driven by innovation from large companies but also by small developers who can contribute to the ecosystem, noting that the market is a favorable environment for developers to thrive. In addition, Korean users are sensitive to trends and adept at incorporating technology, which would allow them to quickly adopt Web3 culture.

More to Read
View All
Web3 & Enterprise·

Nov 14, 2023

Conut teams up with Foblgate to provide trendy crypto news to exchange users

Conut teams up with Foblgate to provide trendy crypto news to exchange usersSouth Korean cryptocurrency exchange Foblgate announced on Tuesday (local time) that it will collaborate with Korean cryptocurrency newsletter Conut to bring relevant news about virtual assets to a wider audience, providing readers with richer and more informative content.Photo by Markus Winkler on UnsplashPublishing entertaining and insightful crypto newsLaunched in 2021, Conut is dedicated to providing crypto news in a way that is fun, straightforward and appealing to younger demographics, considering that crypto is more popular among younger age groups. It simplifies complicated topics like Play-to-Earn (P2E) games, the metaverse, cryptocurrency regulations and spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) using trendy memes and internet vernacular instead of formal language. Currently, the newsletters are available on the official Conut website or via email subscription, which has accumulated over 8,000 subscribers as of this month. In the future, Conut plans to launch a mailing service as well as a P2E app called Coquiz to increase accessibility and reach more people who are interested in crypto and blockchain.Through this newest collaboration with Foblgate, content from Conut’s recent newsletters will be featured on Foblgate’s main page, providing users with access to a wealth of information on a wide range of topics, from crypto basics to the latest trends.“By making Conut’s content easily accessible to our users, we intend to promote a better general understanding of blockchain and resolve information asymmetry. We plan to explore and offer more content in the future for our users to take advantage of,” said Foblgate CEO Ahn Hyun-jun.The founders of Conut, Lee Choong and Jo Hana, also expressed their anticipation for the collaboration, stating that it would be a great help in disseminating quality content.Nurturing creativityFoblgate has been an active proponent of content production and promotion. Earlier this year, the exchange co-hosted the Self-Made Genius Contest — a contest for exploring creative projects in traditional and digital art.

news
Web3 & Enterprise·

Sep 14, 2023

Emurgo Looks to Fill in Missing Cardano Ecosystem Components

Emurgo Looks to Fill in Missing Cardano Ecosystem ComponentsEmurgo, the Singapore-based commercial arm and a founding entity of the Cardano blockchain network, plans on working towards filling in the gaps relative to needed Cardano ecosystem components.So said Emurgo Founder and CEO Ken Kodama, in a recent discussion with Andrew Fenton, the Editor of Cointelegraph’s magazine. Emurgo is one of the three entities governing Cardano and has taken on the task of addressing what it perceives as “missing” components in the Cardano blockchain when compared to other leading blockchains.Photo by Traxer on UnsplashAddressing 21 categoriesKodama outlined a strategic shift in Emurgo’s approach, describing it as a transition to a venture studio model to address 21 specific categories that he and his team believe require attention. According to Kodama, the solutions to these gaps will either be built by Emurgo themselves or sourced through investments, hackathons, or grants to incentivize developers within the Cardano community. Kodama stated: “So, that’s what we need to focus on, shifting from where we are today into a venture studio model.”One area that the Emurgo CEO is looking to address is the need to introduce layer 2 solutions to enhance Cardano’s scalability. While other blockchains have seen significant development in this area, Kodama feels that Cardano needs to catch up. Therefore, it’s a priority for Emurgo to cultivate a similar environment within the Cardano network.Along those lines, Emurgo is exploring zero-knowledge rollups and optimistic rollups, indicating the firm’s commitment to exploring and investing in what is the latest cutting-edge blockchain technology. To this end, they’ve already organized hackathons centered around these themes.Developer proficiency issueThe Emurgo boss feels that one of these 21 shortfalls is more pressing than the rest. Kodama acknowledged that the barrier of having developers proficient in more obscure programming languages like Haskell and Plutus is a difficulty. He believes the current pool of developers with expertise in these languages is insufficient. To address this, Emurgo is keen to promote Aiken, a toolkit and a new programming language designed to facilitate the development of smart contracts on the Cardano blockchain.Another one of the highlighted gaps is the absence of a robust decentralized identity (DID) system for enterprise adoption within the Cardano ecosystem. Kodama voiced his concern in this respect, stating: “We don’t see that much DID application being built on Cardano. So, that’s the first gap, or primary gap that we need to fill in.”“Aiken and other programming language applicability are quite important to broaden the number of builders able to build on top of Cardano. We have been educating builders to code in Haskell and Plutus. We had more than 2,000 graduates. However, that’s not really enough,” Kodama added.Emurgo has high hopes for Aiken and similar programming languages that can be integrated into Cardano, with the aim of diversifying the pool of developers capable of creating smart contracts on the platform, using a variety of programming languages.

news
Web3 & Enterprise·

Dec 02, 2023

Forkast Labs streamlines operations following merger

Forkast Labs streamlines operations following mergerForkast Labs, a crypto media and data intelligence firm, has streamlined and consolidated its operations in the wake of a merger which was carried out earlier this year.CryptoSlam mergerIn January, Forkast News, a Web3 media publication which had been founded in Hong Kong, merged with United States-based blockchain analytics firm CryptoSlam. The merger led to the formation of a newly branded entity known as Forkast Labs — a “Web3-focused data intelligence and media platform.”Forkast Labs’ merger with CryptoSlam brought together their respective strengths, with CryptoSlam specializing in non-fungible token (NFT) data tracking since its establishment in 2018. In January 2022, CryptoSlam secured $9 million in funding, led by Animoca Brands. It is worth noting that Forkast.News is also a portfolio company of Animoca, with Yat Siu, the founder and executive chairman of Animoca, overseeing the merger process.Photo by Possessed Photography on UnsplashStrategic pivotThe tie-up aimed to create a synergy between data intelligence and media in the cryptocurrency space. According to a report by The Block on Friday, recent developments suggest a potential pivot away from traditional editorial operations. Citing a Forkast Labs internal memo that the publication claimed had been shared with it, the memo stated:“There will be an increased focus on the data side going forward, and the collective team will be focused on launching new data products.”With that change of direction, it’s understood that some editorial staff have been laid off. The internal company memo went on to state that “the majority of editorial operations have been incorporated into Forkast Labs as a result of the merger between Forkast and CryptoSlam earlier this year.”The original crypto news site Forkast.News was co-founded by former Bloomberg anchor Angie Lau and former McKinsey consultant Sarah Chang in Hong Kong in 2018. The company raised $1.7 million in a seed funding round in 2021. In the wake of the January merger, the company had expanded its offerings in subsequent months with the release of indices, including the Forkast 500 NFT Index. Additionally, a partnership with The Sandbox in June aimed to “index the metaverse.”Consolidation trendThe changes effected by Forkast News and subsequently Forkast Labs are very much in line with a recent trend evidenced relative to crypto media. The Block carried out a reorganization in March that saw the firm layoff 27 staff, accounting for around one-third of its workforce. Last month, the media outlet was sold to Singapore-based venture capital group, Foresight Ventures, with a valuation of $70 million.Another prominent crypto media platform, CoinDesk, carried out an editorial staff reduction in August. It was subsequently acquired last month by cryptocurrency exchange platform Bullish in an all-cash deal led by former New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley. Bullish is also one of three bidders in the running to buy out failed crypto exchange FTX.The evolving dynamics in the crypto media sector underscore the industry’s adaptability and pursuit of new avenues. In this instance, it demonstrates the pursuit of a data-focused business proposition amid changing market demands.

news
Loading