Com2uS USA CEO Highlights Importance of Transition from Web2 to Web3 Gaming

Shinhan Card to launch NFT-based art-tech service next yearSouth Korean credit card company Shinhan Card is set to launch its art-tech service dubbed “Prestige Collection” next year, according to Park Young-woong of the Digital R&D team during his presentation at the seventh annual Shinhan Future’s Lab Demo Day event held in Seoul on Wednesday.Photo by Yi Liu on UnsplashDigitizing investments in artArt-tech — a portmanteau of art and money management technology — refers to an investment method that involves purchasing or owning artworks as assets and earning profits from their sales.“We are planning to launch our art-tech service next year, which will include exhibition recommendations, NFT ticketing and NFT art warranties to work in tandem with Shinhan Card’s payment services,” Park said. He also mentioned that it is currently undergoing legal evaluations.Making event access more efficientThe inception of this upcoming release started in September, when Shinhan carried out a collaborative proof of concept (PoC) mechanism with two member startups from the ninth installment of its Future’s Lab startup acceleration program, Art Map and SnapTag.Art Map is an art curation service put together by a team of database experts, software developers, artists, curators and designers that gathers metadata based on users’ preferences to recommend exhibitions and other art-related events for them to enjoy. On the other hand, SnapTag offers a variety of services based on its patented invisible watermark technology dubbed LAB Code. LAB Code is able to create an encrypted code by subtly converting image pixels of items like product packages, photos and illustrations and applying those files to printing or production processes without damaging or changing the original image.Last month, Art Map and SnapTag used their respective technologies to work with Shinhan Card to issue and verify blockchain-based NFT tickets for the Sneakers Unboxed special exhibition held at the Sejong Museum of Art. Shinhan was responsible for minting NFTs as tickets for exhibitions promoted on Art Map’s platform, which could be issued and stored on the My NFT section on Shinhan’s mobile app ShinhanpLay. Visitors would then be able to use SnapTag’s digital check-in service Keefo to enter the exhibition.This NFT ticketing system was proven to be a time-efficient and secure alternative to traditional ticketing procedures, which come with several inconveniences like long wait lines, delayed entry, illegal ticket resells and monopolization of customer data by major ticketing conglomerates. This is especially true for music performances by famous artists, where competition during ticket sales can become intense.“Our NFT ticketing service will evolve into an art-tech management service that focuses on art,” Park explained. “Prestige Collection will leverage Art Map’s art concierge platform, SnapTag’s LAB Code technology and Shinhan Card’s My NFT service.”

A couple of recent reports have revealed how North Korean hackers have been moving funds to a Cambodian crypto payments platform while further insight has come to light with regard to how these hackers are compromising crypto companies. Huoine PayOn July 15, Reuters reported that Cambodian currency exchange and payments firm Huione Pay had received in excess of $150,000 in digital currency from a wallet associated with notorious North Korean hacking group Lazarus. Analysis of blockchain data demonstrated that the funds had been received by the Phnom Penh-headquartered payments firm in June 2023 and February 2024. Photo by allPhoto Bangkok on Unsplash‘Pig butchering’It’s understood that Lazarus stole those digital assets from three crypto firms during the months of June and July of 2023. While Huione has suggested that it was oblivious to the origin of the funds, a blog article by blockchain analytics company Elliptic, published to its website on July 10, suggested that “Huione Guarantee is an online marketplace that has become widely used by scam operators in South East Asia.”  Elliptic went on to assert that some of these scammers employ “pig butchering” techniques, where fraudsters manipulate the victim into investing into fraudulent crypto schemes. It added that “merchants on the platform offer technology, data and money laundering services, and have engaged in transactions totaling at least $11 billion.” The National Bank of Cambodia explained to Reuters that the company is not permitted to trade crypto and that it "would not hesitate to impose any corrective measures" against Huione. The platform is believed to have strong ties to Cambodia’s ruling family. One of the firm’s three directors is understood to be a cousin of the Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Manet. The Lazarus hacking group is believed to have masterminded a $305 million hack of Japanese cryptocurrency DMM Bitcoin in May of this year. Pseudonymous on-chain investigator ZachXBT claimed on X that $35 million of the proceeds had been laundered through the Huione platform. Compromising crypto businessesIn a related development, a report by DL News published on July 15 has found that North Korean hackers are employing a new tactic in order to compromise crypto businesses. The hackers are scanning the internet for job postings advertised by the companies they’re targeting and submitting bogus applications. A report by the United Nations Security Council has revealed that in excess of 4,000 North Koreans have taken up employment with international technology firms. Part of the social engineering-based tactics employed by the hackers includes contriving to get employees within targeted companies to install malware.  Oftentimes, the resumes and LinkedIn profiles of real people are used in order to find a way in via the recruitment process. A report by DeFiLlama suggests that $664 million has been lost via instances of crypto hacking within the first half of 2024. 

Seoul and Baobab Partners Face Controversy Over Unpaid Prize Winnings for SWF2023 HackathonThe city of Seoul has come under public scrutiny for failing to pay the winners of the Seoul Web3 Festival (SWF2023) Hackathon a cash prize worth KRW 150 million (approximately $112,000). The Seoul Metropolitan Government has argued that since it was simply a naming rights sponsor, the responsibility for paying the prizes lies with Baobab Partners, who co-hosted the event. However, critics argue that the city did not properly vet Baobab Partners more rigorously before hosting the event.Photo by okaybuild on PixabayUnpaid prizes lingerThe SWF2023 Hackathon took place from July 31 to August 2 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) and was co-hosted by the city of Seoul, the Seoul Design Foundation, and Baobab Partners. It offered a total prize pool of KRW 150 million attracting 417 participants who made up 115 teams.However, although over two months have passed since then, the winners are yet to be paid their prize money. “Baobab Partners initially proposed the SWF2023 event, and they were responsible for gathering the necessary sponsorship funds to run the event,” said a city representative.According to industry sources on Monday, the company’s CEO, Choi Jin-beom, issued a handwritten apology last Friday regarding the incident. “We promised to pay the winners by today, but we were unable to deliver on that promise. We explored multiple avenues, including investors, new contractors, and other assets, but were ultimately unable to secure the funds to do so,” he said. “The narrative that the funds were diverted elsewhere or invested in cryptocurrencies or stocks is untrue,” he added, clarifying that related information was transparently disclosed to the city of Seoul.Baobab Partners’ swift rise raises industry eyebrowsBaobab Partners had previously participated as an event planner at last year’s Blockchain Week in Busan, which turned out to be a success. “We also spoke with the Busan city government, who gave a positive opinion of the company,” the representative added. It was under this context that Seoul entered into a naming rights agreement with Baobab Partners. The agreement stipulated that the company would be in charge of attracting and managing sponsorships, and the prize money and operational costs would be covered by corporate sponsorship funds.Nevertheless, questions have arisen within the industry about Baobab Partners’ short track record and its successive collaborations with public organizations. Baobab Partners is a startup that was founded in May 2021. In November of the same year, the firm signed memoranda of understanding with three blockchain companies during NFT Busan 2021, a large-scale NFT fair held in the southern port city to share the latest blockchain trends. As a result of its efforts, it was listed alongside prominent companies such as Coinone and Onther despite only six months passing since its establishment. Subsequently, Baobab Partners relocated from Seoul to Busan, and the following year, it participated as an event planner at Blockchain Week in Busan.Accumulating allegationsSpeculation suggests that this success was not solely due to Baobab Partners’s capabilities. The company’s CEO is believed to have political connections, according to an anonymous industry insider. Choi denied such claims and stressed that its technical expertise should not be downplayed, citing the fact that Baobab Partners was the first entity in Korea to develop virtual reality (VR) banking technology and had received a KRW 15 billion investment from Finger, a KOSDAQ-listed company.Baobab Partners has also been mired in controversy over supposedly unpaid wages. In response to a claim made by an industry source that many former employees of Baobab Partners have still not received their due wages, a Seoul representative stated that there is no such dispute according to conversations with company representatives, seeking to dispel the dispute. Choi further explained, “We didn’t have wage disputes until last year. The difficulty in paying wages began in January this year due to the failure to execute promised investment funds.”The city said that it is currently conducting legal examinations and looking into necessary measures for two matters involving Baobab Partners, including the handling of hackathon winnings.