Why South Korea Might Be The Next Metaverse Hub

Welcome to The Daily Forkast, November 17th, 2021, presented by Angie Lau. For the latest in blockchain & crypto news. On today’s show:

00:00 Coming Up
00:39 Chinese crypto mining hardware manufacturer Canaan reports Q3 earnings.
02:27 South Korea emerges as metaverse hub.
04:28 NFTs start bridging the digital and physical worlds.

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Chinese Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer Canaan’s Q3 earnings show no sign of any setback from China’s clampdown on the mining sector. The company reported a net income of just over 467 million Renminbi, or US$72.5 million compared to a net loss of US$13.5 million in the same quarter last year. Now, going forward, CEO Nangeng Zhang said the latest policy moves in Kazakhstan will promote sustainable development of the cryptocurrency mining industry in the country, and that should be beneficial for Canaan’s business development there. However, dark clouds could be on the horizon for the many crypto miners who have chosen Texas as a base, with local media saying questions have been raised as to whether the state’s ERCOT power grid manager can handle the growing load or keeping a close watch on that development.
Meanwhile, Chinese interest in the Metaverse continues, with gaming giant NetEase the latest to get in on the act. In its Q3 earnings call, the company said it is technologically ready and claimed it will be one of the fastest runners in the metaverse space. Netease saw a year-on-year increase in net revenue of 18.9% with games responsible for over 70% or almost US$2.5 billion worth of those earnings.

South Korea’s TV home shopping businesses are going all in on the metaverse as well. GS Shop has broadcast Korea’s first ever Metaverse home shopping experience. Meanwhile, several other networks are training meta human beings for the next level of TV home shopping. South Korea’s capital city, Seoul, and another major city, Gwangju, have announced their full support for the metaverse industry. Televised home shopping once dominated South Korea, however, it has faced strong competition more recently. GS Shops home shopping segment for a selection of gourmet nuts gave viewers a grand tour of Old Trees Factory via the metaverse. To create the experience GS shop, visited the real factory and digitized every machine and piece of equipment so customers could view the production process closer up than if they’d actually visited. Meanwhile, Lotte Home Shopping is preparing to debut a virtual show hosted by Lucy, a 29 years old model slash design researcher metahuman. Lotte says that with Lucy, they are speeding up their metaverse business. And CJ OnStyle has collaborated with the virtual influencer named Roy to introduce a new line of fashion. City governments are also getting in on the game, with Korea’s capital city, Seoul and Gwangju metropolitan city both pledging to support the metaverse industry. Earlier this month, Seoul announced a five year plan to set up an ecosystem for the industry, while Gwangju City will blend metaverse technology into its five representative industries, including producing eco-friendly automobiles in hydrogen energy.

And now let’s get you the latest on NFTs and how it’s defining decentralized pop culture. It’s what Duc Luu, executive chairman of Sports Network, a cross-chain DeFi powered NFT marketplace, knows all about.

Angie: First question, one of the hottest artists in the NFT universe, Beeple sold his most recent project, Human One, for nearly US$29 million. The sale included both an NFT and a sculpture. And so we’re asking, is this going to be what people expect from NFTs from now on? What’s going on here?
Duc: Yeah, I mean, I think if you think about NFTs a year, year and a half ago, you were thinking about memes and GIFs, and you’re just saying, what’s so special about it? Why does it? Is it a collectible? Isn’t it completely fungible versus a nonfungible token?
Duc: And so where you have Beeple, one of the stars of the scene, he’s really thinking about bridging the physical and the digital, more and more. We already have instances where you can take your NFT and then bring it to a smart screen.
Angie: And that brings me to this question is this what we are going to see at one of the biggest international art fairs, Art Basel Miami? It’s just around the corner. What’s on your radar? Do you think NFTs are going to take over there?
Duc: Yeah, so the art market obviously is incredibly huge and integral to NFTs. We saw Art Basel one of the bigger, bigger shows in the world. You know, Art Basel Hong Kong drives the most revenue, but really, Art Basel Miami is where the cool stands. So we’re going to see a lot of activity by NFT groups and NFT artists during that that weekend. And I’m looking at NFT Basel BZL as as an event to watch during that week.

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