50 Million-user Chat App KakaoTalk Launches Crypto Wallet (UPDATED)

South Korea’s Kakao Group, the operator of the KakaoTalk chat app, has launched its long-awaited crypto wallet Klip – providing most of the country with immediate access to 11 cryptoassets and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). (Updated at 09:45 UTC: updates throughout the entire text).

The wallet is compatible with the Kakao-issued Klay token – the native coin of its Klaytn blockchain network, as well as 10 other tokens, mostly issued by existing Klaytn partners, namely:

1. Box (BOX)
2. BlockPet Token (BPT)
3. Pibble (PIB)
4. Hint (HINT)
5. Antube Token (ATT)
6. Temco (TEMCO)
7. Bitbns (BNS)
8. Pixel (PXL)
9. Insureum (ISR)
10. Cosm (COSM)

Per a Kakao blog post, the company claims that the wallet is also compatible with “a multitude of NFTs.”

KakaoTalk claims to have around 45 million monthly active users in South Korea (90% of the country’s total population), with up to 5 million living overseas. The wallet, named Klip, can be accessed via a tab in the KakaoTalk interface – which has previously been furnished with KakaoBank e-banking and KakaoPay e-pay tabs.

Although the feature is only currently available for South Korea-based users, the company stated,

“In the second half of the year, Klip will be directly connected to Klaytn-based blockchain applications and following that, a native mobile application of Klip will become available to provide a seamless digital wallet service to users all over the world.”

The post author added that the number of Klaytn-based cryptocurrencies and NFTs that will be supported in Klip will increase gradually over time.

Kakao’s blockchain subsidiary GroundX has stated that it aims to allow its millions of users to “experience digital assets.”

In a tweet, the company urged users to “enjoy” their first forays into the crypto market.

Ground X CEO Han Jae-sun stated,

“[Klip] is easy and convenient enough to be used by those who have no previous experience with blockchain technology. Ground X also plans to make efforts to educate and publicize content about the potential of digital assets to Millennials and Generation Z.”

One of Kakao’s biggest rivals is the search engine giant Naver, the founder of the Line chat app. Although Line has made very few inroads in the domestic market, it has been a roaring success in Japan – where it has launched its own licensed crypto exchange and wallet service, Bitmax, which is also linked to its chat app.