Kakao Talks up DeFi, Wants to Build ‘Digital Asset Trading Ecosystem’

One of South Korea’s biggest tech companies has spoken out about its desire to build an ecosystem for “trading” what it termed “digital assets” and has spoken about DeFi (decentralized finance) in glowing terms – at a forum hosted by a central government-run agency.

The comments were made by Ground X, the blokchain subsidiary of Kakao, which operates the KakaoTalk chat app, which is used by some 44 million South Koreans. Kakao’s business empire also comprises an e-pay platform, banking and more – as well as a newly released crypto wallet, the Klaytn blockchain network, and a tradable cryptoasset, klay.

Per Fn News, Ground X’s business lead Lee Yoon-ho spoke at a fintech seminar hosted by the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), the government’s tech arm, stating,

“Our vision with Klaytn is to create a circular ecosystem where digital assets are held and traded.”

Lee also hinted that the Klaytn platform was open to expanding its DeFi-related interests – a hint that Kakao is also hopeful of jumping aboard the increasingly lucrative decentralized finance gravy train.

Lee said,

“DeFi can contribute to the implementation [of the ecosystem]. I believe that the assets issued in the DeFi ecosystem can secure user trust and become practical with real-world usages as the frequency and volume of transactions increases on a global scale.”

The Klaytn executive added that “gaining trust is the key to expanding the DeFi market.”

He also opined that DeFi and decentralized crypto exchanges had the potential to outperform centralized services in the payments, mortgage, loans and exchange sectors.

Lee also spoke about Kakao’s plans to expand the scope of its own Klip wallet, allowing it to support tokenized copyright-related documentation, as well as bonds, derivatives, coupons, goods, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

He stated that the firm intended to allow users to trade these digital assets on its Klatyn platforms.

Klip was released earlier this year, and links directly to the KakaoTalk chat app interface.
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