Busan BDX Consortium named preferred bidder for Digital Asset Exchange

Among various accounts within a bank, a demand deposit account is considered a “station” where people can temporarily store their money and easily withdraw it for future investments. These accounts are highly liquid, since users can deposit or withdraw funds at any time without having to pay a penalty to a bank.  Following the recent cryptocurrency boom, the five major banks in Korea – KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, Woori Bank and NH Nonghyup Bank – are seeing a significant influx of funds into their demand deposit accounts, according to local media outlet Money Today. This is partly attributed to an increasing number of youths who are seeking to invest in crypto assets, parking their money in these banks’ demand deposit accounts. Shinhan Bank and Nonghyup Bank have seen the highest increase in their deposits, owing to their affiliation with local crypto exchanges that have access to real-name accounts from these banks. Photo by André François McKenzie on UnsplashBTC’s surge attracting young investors to cryptoExperts say that these deposits could be potentially transferred to the crypto market by owners as Bitcoin’s value continues to climb. An insider from a crypto exchange noted that the bullish crypto market, spurred by the U.S. approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, is driving a number of young investors to turn to crypto investments, encouraging them to channel their deposits into buying crypto tokens.  Data from these five major banks shows their total demand deposits by the end of February exceeded KRW 614 trillion ($460 billion), seeing a month-over-month increase of about KRW 23.5 trillion. During the same period, the banks’ combined regular savings grew by KRW 23.6 trillion, while their combined installment savings saw a decrease of KRW 13.3 trillion. This came after the government-led savings product “Youth Hope Installment Savings” reached its maturity, which returns users their principal with relatively large interest gains.  Banks scrambling to attract crypto investors with new savings productsIn response to the potential decline in interest rates in the second half of this year, an increasing number of customers are seeking to put their money into savings products with an interest rate of as low as 3%, according to a banker. In a bid to attract more users, local banks are busy introducing new savings products.  KB Kookmin Bank launched a savings product offering a relatively high annual interest rate of up to 4%, and Shinhan Bank rolled out a savings product targeting youths with an annual interest rate of up to 3.85%.  Meanwhile, Kbank, an online-only bank, is deemed among the largest beneficiaries of the crypto boom, as the bank saw its average daily new customers triple compared to last year. Since 2020, Kbank has served as the provider of real-name accounts to Upbit, the leading crypto exchange in Korea.  Ha Joon-kyung, a professor at the Department of Economics at Hanyang University, said the sudden surge in demand deposits means that a significant portion of these funds will be invested in high-yielding but risky assets, including cryptocurrencies, stocks and real estate.  

NEOPIN and Sevenline Labs collaborate to boost Web3 gaming expansionCentralized decentralized finance (CeDeFi) protocol NEOPIN has entered into a partnership with Sevenline Labs, a Korea-based company specializing in blockchain solutions. This collaboration is aimed at fostering expansion in the Web3 gaming ecosystem.Photo by Alicia Christin Gerald on UnsplashGames of different genres and platformsSevenline Labs is currently operating a Web3-powered esports tournament platform called Miracle Play. Leveraging application programming interfaces (APIs), the platform offers games of different platforms of genres on blockchain networks. It enables mobile, desktop, console and Web3 gamers to engage in diverse tournaments and earn rewards from competitions.Sevenline’s inaugural service, operating on the Polygon Network, has successfully completed a closed beta test specifically targeted at Indonesian communities. Currently, the company is in the process of conducting an open beta test. Looking ahead, Sevenline is planning to extend its support to various chains compatible with Ethereum virtual machines (EVMs). This expansion includes notable blockchain platforms such as Avalanche, Binance Smart Chain, Oasys, Solana and Klaytn. The ultimate objective of Sevenline is to orchestrate large-scale tournaments between different mainnets, with each of them representing a distinct faction.Through the collaboration between NEOPIN and Sevenline Labs, NEOPIN’s global partners will introduce their Web3 games to the Miracle Play platform. This move allows users to voluntarily host and participate in various tournaments, thereby enhancing the visibility and popularity of these games. Concurrently, Web3 gaming companies that have formed partnerships with Sevenline will be incorporated into the NEOPIN ecosystem.Native tokens to be supportedThe integration of the NEOPIN wallet with Miracle Play is a strategic move that aims to attract a global user base, particularly those who have completed Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks. This strategy presents a win-win scenario for both NEOPIN and Miracle Play. NEOPIN benefits by gaining access to a dedicated community of Web3 gamers who will actively organize and partake in tournaments on the Miracle Play platform. In return, Miracle Play taps into the decentralized finance (DeFi) user base associated with NEOPIN. Furthermore, both platforms plan to support their native tokens — the NEOPIN (NPT) token and the Miracle Play (MPT) token in the future.Ethan Kim, CEO of NEOPIN, expressed that the partnership will be beneficial in three aspects: attracting Web3 gaming partners, acquiring mutual users and expediting the adoption of the Web3 gaming ecosystem. He emphasized NEOPIN’s commitment to accelerating the global expansion of the NEOPIN ecosystem through these strategic efforts in promoting the Web3 gaming sector.

Korean Pharma and Running App Employ NFTs to Promote Fatigue ReliefDaewoong Pharmaceutical recently announced its collaboration with D-Run, an NFT-based running app, to employ non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in marketing a fatigue relief product to millennials and Generation Z.©Pexels/Anna ShvetsUnique NFT IllustrationsFor the project, two unique NFT illustrations have been designed, showcasing a brown bear and a red heart with arms and legs. The bear, named Uri, represents Daewoong’s fatigue relief product UR-Shot, and the heart serves as D-Run’s mascot DZ. In one NFT edition, Uri and DZ are depicted running across a bridge, while the other shows them lying down on a grassy lawn under a tree.Each edition will have 100 NFTs available for purchase on Klip Drops, an NFT marketplace operated by Kakao’s blockchain subsidiary Ground X, from April 26 to May 9. NFT buyers will receive 20 tablets of UR-Shot and D-Run merchandise.Millennial and Gen Z runnersDaewoong’s partnership with D-Run, a platform operated by online media outlet dongA.com, a subsidiary of the nation’s leading newspaper Donga Ilbo, aims to connect with the digital-savvy millennial and Gen Z runners. This collaboration promotes UR-Shot as a healthy energy booster. In November last year, Daewoong introduced NFTs featuring Uri to attract millennials and Gen Z consumers.NFTs as marketing strategyNFTs are tokens that utilize blockchain technology to prove ownership of virtual assets. Due to their scarcity and irreplaceability, NFTs have recently become increasingly influential in the digital art sphere such as paintings and videos. In particular, young consumers often use NFTs as a tool to have fun and express themselves.Park Eun-kyung, the head of the consumer healthcare marketing team at Daewoong, said that this NFT collaboration to reach out to young consumers is the first marketing initiative of its kind in the pharmaceutical industry. Daewoong will continue to keep an eye on the consumption culture of younger generations and conduct various digital marketing programs to alleviate customers’ daily fatigue, she added