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Park Jung-ho, vice chairman and co-CEO of SK Square and SK Hynix SK Square Co., the investment arm of SK Group, is working on issuing its own digital currency within the year, according to people with knowledge of the matter on Wednesday.The digital coin, once issued, will likely be exchangeable not only for virtual goods in SK Telecom Co.'s metaverse digital space, but also for real-life items on the group's e-commerce and streaming platforms.SK Square recently started running a task force team to prepare its foray into the digital currency area and other blockchain-based businesses. It has completed its legal review of the virtual currency issuance, which will take place within the year at the earliest, the sources said.If the plan goes through, the country's third-largest conglomerate will become the first among South Korea's top 10 business groups to mint a cryptocurrency.Unlike the existing cryptocurrencies, most of which circulate only in the virtual space such as play-to-earn games, SK Square's digital coin will likely be used for a broader range of real-life services provided by the group's units.For example, a cyber character, or an avatar creates shoes on SK Telecom's metaverse platform eFriend in return for digital coins. The cryptocurrency then can be exchanged into real-life shoes on SK Group's e-commerce platform 11Street Co., video content on SK's over-the-top streaming platform Wavve, or navigation service of TMap Mobility Corp.Further, its digital currency can be used for SK Telecom's subscription services, which encompass music downloads, home training and direct delivery of products sold by Amazon. The company expects to build its cryptocurrency ecosystem within the group, which should build credibility and sustain demand for its digital coin, according to the sources.SK Square will use SK Telecom's blockchain technology to create its digital coin. In 2021, 11Street launched a new subscription e-commerce market, called T Universe GROUP-WIDE SUPPORTAt present, there is a de facto ban on the domestic issuance of cryptocurrencies.But Yoon Suk-yeol, who was elected South Korea's next president earlier this month, promised deregulation on cryptocurrency trade, including allowing the issuance of digital coins in the country. South Korea's cryptocurrency trading market reached 55.2 trillion won ($45 billion) as of end-2021, according to Korea Financial Intelligence Unit. Their daily transaction value averaged 11.3 trillion won in the country, closer to the 11.9 trillion won in daily turnovers on the junior Kosdaq market.SK Square is the sub-holding company of SK Group and hold stakes in chipmaker SK Hynix Inc., 11Street, TMap Mobility and SK Planet Co., an online marketing platform.Shortly after it was spun off from SK Telecom late last year, SK Squrae poured 90 billion won to buy a 35% stake in Korbit, one of the country’s top four cryptocurrency exchanges. As the No. 2 shareholder in Korbit, SK Planet on Wednesday signed an agreement with the crypto exchange to join forces to develop blockchain-related services, including non-fungible tokens. SK Planet and Korbit's signing ceremony for business cooperation on March 23 INITIAL COIN OFFERINGAfter issuing a virtual currency, SK Square will make an initial coin offering (ICO) either at home or abroad so that it can become a tradable asset."SK Square wants to create and grow its own cryptocurrency ecosystem within the group, rather than just introducing its crypto to be used for part of its services," a cryptocurrency industry source told The Korea Economic Daily. "Since ICO is banned in South Korea at present, SK will likely consider going abroad for an ICO, or taking a wait and see attitude to monitor domestic regulatory changes," he said. By Han-Gyeol Seon and Sung-Soo Baealways@hankyung.comYeonhee Kim edited this article
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