Prominent South Korean exchange, Bithumb has revealed developing a non-fungible tokens [NFT] marketplace. As per the CEO, Heo Baek-young the exchange was currently developing an NFT exchange to maintain healthy competition with Korbit and Upbit, native to South Korea. Heo noted during an interview last week,
“An NFT marketplace will be important in promoting blockchain-based content, which will become a driving force in the future.”
As the news settles there were speculations that “a large company” involved with Bithumb was LG CNS, a subsidiary of LG Corporation. The media publications in South Korea reported that the NFT marketplace is being developed in collaboration with tech giant LG CNS. However, officials from Bithumb refused to confirm this development.
They stated,
“It is true that we have been preparing for an NFT exchange before. Also, it is impossible to confirm whether it is LG CNS and whether it is just them or a group of companies.”
While there is no official confirmation about LG CNS’s role or participation, this step was crucial for Bithumb in maintaining its second spot among Korean exchanges. It was seeing a strong trading volume of $730 million, whereas Upbit still ruled the Korean markets with a 24-hour trading volume of $1.7 billion. Bithumb also ranked third to announce its NFT service, as Korbit first introduced it in May 2021, followed by Upbit in November 2021.
Nevertheless, Bithumb has been working on different suits of products for its customers. In September 2021, it launched Bithumb Live with its shareholder Bucket Studio that will build an ‘NFT Live Commerce’ business as a metaverse complex commerce platform. It will combine Metaverse, NFT, blockchain, live commerce, and virtual asset payment.