Crypto Exchange Bithumb Holds Free Trading Event To Boost User Base and Liquidity

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.”

Hana TI Partners with BitGo for Web3 Digital Asset Custody SolutionsHana TI, Hana Financial Group’s financial information technology (IT) arm, announced that it will work with US-based digital asset trust company BitGo on technological collaborations related to Web3-based virtual asset custody services.BitGo has been taking steps to enter the Korean market, starting with the establishment of its Korean branch and its new joint venture for digital asset custody services with Hana Bank. Following this announcement, the company said that it would delve deeper into cooperation with Hana TI.Photo by Medienstürmer on UnsplashCharting the course for digital asset custody in KoreaMike Belshe, Co-Founder and CEO of BitGo, recently visited Hana Financial Group’s Integrated Data Center in Incheon’s Cheongna district, which serves as a digital finance facility for the group. He was accompanied by Park Geun-young, CEO of Hana TI, on a tour through the integrated security control center and server rooms.The two CEOs also discussed various cooperative strategies to expand the Korean market for digital asset custody services, including security measures such as obtaining Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification. In addition, Belshe emphasized the significance of a secure and transparent custody infrastructure for facilitating the issuance and distribution of institutional security tokens. To that end, he expressed BitGo’s commitment to consumer protection and enhancing transparency and security within the Korean digital asset industry together with Hana Bank and Hana TI.“We hope that this collaboration will have a positive impact on enhancing trust and stability in the local digital asset ecosystem,” Park added.Along with security cooperation, Belshe and Park agreed that building up the technical capabilities of Web3-based digital asset platforms is equally important in expediting the growth of the market.Belshe and Park also visited the Hana Global Campus in Cheongna — a hub for cultivating talent — as well as the group’s future headquarters, set to be completed in 2025. Hana TI representatives shared their vision for the Hana Dream Town project currently under development in Cheongna.Commitment to advancing Web3 technologyHana TI is currently concentrating efforts on strengthening its capabilities to internalize Web3-based blockchain technology. The company thereby established a division dedicated to Web3 endeavors in June of last year. It has since been actively engaged in research and development for technologies involved in blockchain infrastructure, digital assets, and security tokens.

Upbit upgrades matching engine to process KRW 1 quadrillion trading volumeSouth Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit has enhanced its matching engine — which matches buy and sell orders from users on the exchange — to be able to handle a daily trading volume of KRW 1 quadrillion (approximately $757.3 billion), according to local news outlet Kyunghyang Games.Photo by Maxim Hopman on UnsplashBecause the crypto market operates nonstop without limits to time or borders, having a solid infrastructure that can seamlessly handle large amounts of data is crucial. Upbit has thus been working on its so-called “Stairway to Heaven” project for the past two years to upgrade its trading infrastructure, including its matching engine.Constant upgradesThe Stairway to Heaven is a long-term project in which Upbit’s operator Dunamu has invested a total of KRW 10 billion (approximately $7.6 million) to adjust to the rapidly advancing crypto industry and improve the performance of the entire market system. The upgradesThe main goal of the project is to upgrade Upbit’s matching engine to be cloud-native and horizontally scalable. The engine is now capable of supporting more than 40,000 transactions per second — a 25-fold increase from the previous version of the engine — allowing it to respond efficiently to surges in user traffic. In the event of a traffic spike, the system can handle more than 100,000 transactions per second with additional servers, the exchange said.“Unlike the way traditional finance approaches ledger management, our cloud-native architecture allows us to flexibly respond to surges in traffic,” Upbit said. “We will continue to make various system improvements to offer a stable investment environment.”Elevating the user experienceIn addition to upgrading its matching engine, Upbit has recently revamped its UI/UX to include price chart updates by second increments and an overview of profits and losses. The exchange plans to continue its multifaceted efforts in service quality, security and investor protection to become a domestically and globally recognized exchange.