Korean companies and brands should leverage non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to reach countless digital fans and consumers, says Kakao Entertainment senior executive who touted blockchain technology amid unleashed crypto scare by the collapse of Terra.

“NFT has become a mainstream trend that the market cannot resist,” said Ryu Jung-hye, vice president of CEO Vision Office of Kakao Entertainment, a unit of Korean mobile app giant Kakao, as she was addressing the Maeil Business Newspaper forum for fashion CEOs. , beauty and retail on Tuesday.

New markets are emerging as digitalization matures around the world.

With NFT technology providing authenticity, a digital image becomes the world’s one and only asset that has real value, Ryu claimed, referring to the case of “Everydays: the First 5000 Days,” a digital artwork created by Mike Winkelmann, known professionally as Beeple. The purely digital NFT artwork sold for $69 million at Christie’s auction in March last year.

Additionally, the Bored Ape Yacht Club, a collection of unique digital collectibles living on the Ethereum blockchain, has become a blockbuster in the digital asset market. The cheapest piece of 10,000 NFT Bored Ape created by Yuga Labs in April last year is trading at around $350,000, and celebrities like American basketball star Stephen Curry are using the NFT avatar as their image. profile on social networks.

Global retail brands are already moving rapidly to incorporate NFT into their products. Sports brand Adidas did an NFT collaboration with Bored Ape Yacht Club, which brought in over $20 million in sales.

Even those unfamiliar with the NFT concept generally find collaborative work appealing, Ryu said to highlight the new opportunity blockchain technology can provide for traditional business operators.

Many consider NFT a type of betting due to the highly volatile cryptocurrency market, but the market is changing rapidly with NFT adding real value to digital assets, Ryu said.

By Kang Young-woon and Cho Jeehyun

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]