South Korea is showing faith in blockchain in the light of recent exchange hackings and forging ahead with blockchain developments, according to the EconoTimes.
The collective hacking of Bithumb and CoinRail and loss of USD 72 million seems to have done little to dampen the enthusiasm of the Asian powerhouse. The government responded by immediately introduced a bill amendment designed to tighten trading rules this week and now seems to be moving to bigger and greater things.
South Korea’s ministry of science and ICT has now announced that it plans for a KRW 230 billion (USD 207 million) fundraising campaign aimed at adding funds to its next major blockchain project targeting 2022 for completion.
The idea is to allocate the funds to approximately 10,000 experts and 100 companies to further the development of six startups currently supported by the South Korean government. Apart from plans to develop smart cities and factories, the government sees the new funds supporting projects across various sectors from real estate to shipping logistics.
Despite the government’s reticence towards any kind of cryptocurrency adoption, more than likely not helped by the recent hacking events on exchanges, it is developing a welcoming and a rather progressive mood to Blockchain technology, a view seemingly mirrored by many countries at present.
The mood is very much highlighted by recent developments over the past few weeks, such as Ripple’s latest input of USD 50 million to its University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) and The Korean Federation of Banks (KFB) announcement that a new blockchain-based ID initiative dubbed ‘BankSign’ will be implemented in July.
Add to these a bolstering of education on blockchain tech in the country’s universities and private colleges, such as Decenter University’s new summer blockchain and crypto awareness course, and it appears that blockchain adoption is very much on the march.
Ban Joon-Hyuk, chairman of gaming giant Netmarble, clearly agrees with this view suggesting that blockchain will reach “all industries in the future”.
Despite South Korea’s blockchain surge and tough cryptocurrency legislation, digital currencies are still immensely accessible in the country, with surveys showing that 3 million out of South Korea’s 50 million population had a crypto account at the end of 2017.
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