South Korea’s Kakao to Offer Private Placement to Raise Funds for Blockchain Venture – Tokens24

Kakao, a corporate giant that dominates the South Korean mobile market and operator of   Kakaotalk messaging app is considering offering a private placement next month to lure investors to develop their blockchain platform.

Ground X corp, Kakao Corp blockchain business unit was established on March this year in Japan to develop its own blockchain-based platform seeking synergies with Kakao’s current services later this year. Jason Han,  former CTO of Korean startup accelerator Futureplay was appointed the CEO. 

In an interview with Bloomberg, Han said that the initiative is deeming to seek funds from partnership deals with consumer-service companies used for gaming and content sharing. According to Han, Groud X is targeting companies that provide mobile, and internet services that can adopt blockchain technology to offer their services.

Han told Bloomberg that Ground X plans to unveil a test version in September and launch their live blockchain before the end of the year. Han added that their primary goal is to make the blockchain tech accessible to everyone and not only for tech gurus.

Han noted:

“The biggest problem with blockchain right now is that there isn’t a single service that an average person would use.”  

In regards to what  Groud X will comprise, Han envisages the addition of services like Steemit, in this case where users are rewarded for original content with the digital currency. According to the CEO, the services that Ground X will offer will be “more practical” than what other providers offer in the blockchain sphere.

“We’re going to create a service that people can use without having to learn the language of crypto,” said Han adding that  Kakao’s service would be more user-friendly than those such as Ethereum.

Notably, Ground X’s location in Japan was preferred due to regulatory reasons, the CEO said, as Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs)  which are a vital part of creating a blockchain-based service is prohibited in South Korea.

Han admitted to Bloomberg that while it was factual that creating a blockchain platform is no longer anything new, “we aren’t late here:” adding that “We know we’re not frontrunners of blockchain technology. But the industry is still developing.”