Although Bitcoin is known, not many people even know blockchain. Although it is not receiving much attention due to Bitcoin, the most important thing in virtual assets is the blockchain, the technology on which it is based. It is time to pay more attention to how blockchain technology will change our daily lives and investment environment.
Jung Gu-tae, director of Cardo, a virtual asset custody (storage and management) company, recently appeared on the YouTube channel “Bukkumi-Ant Dreaming of Rich” specializing in Money Today Securities and stressed, “Digital assets are essential in the digital era.”
Director Chung said, “In addition to cash, various assets such as real estate, gold, and art are digitized through blockchain, and among them, there will definitely be successful cases,” adding, “This is why we should pay attention to this growing market.”
The Future of Blockchain…’Digitalize’ All Assets
Q. There are various terms such as cryptocurrency and virtual assets for various digitally implemented assets. Is there a reason why the director defined these assets as “digital assets”?
▶ Digital assets are used in a wide variety of areas, not just ‘coin’. Since there are various fields such as DPI (blockchain-based financial system), STO (securities-type token), and NFT (non-replaceable token), it should not be defined only as “currency,” but it is also difficult to define as “virtual” in that transactions are clearly taking place in the real economy. I think it’s more appropriate to describe it as a ‘digital asset’ in a sense that encompasses many different concepts.
Q. People know a lot about Bitcoin, but they often don’t know blockchain well.
The ▶ blockchain is a chain of data called ‘block’. As a result, it is very difficult to hack or falsify from outside. Now, blockchain is often only interested in ‘coin’ or technology, and in fact, it is necessary to pay more attention to how this technology can be applied and commercialized in reality than to technology itself.
Bitcoin, the representative assets that made the technology blockchain famous, and Ethereum, for example, the beginning of Bitcoin was aimed at revitalizing sign-to-sign transactions that excluded central institutions like banks. Bitcoin was created to create a payment system that allows individuals to trade with individuals. On the other hand, Ethereum has a strong characteristic of the blockchain platform. In the blockchain platform that provides Ethereum as a reward, it can be applied in various forms such as Diffie, STO, and NFT.
Q. These days, blockchain technology allows you to trade various assets such as real estate and art. How is that possible?
▶The asset securitization STO is the digitization of real assets. It was issued in the form of securities by splitting the stake in assets worth hundreds of millions and billions of won. In this way, expensive buildings or artworks can be invested in small amounts of 5,000 won to 10,000 won. With STO, all assets can be liquidated. Currently, there are companies that support real estate sales using blockchain overseas. In Korea, fintech startups are also attempting to trade real estate tokens.
Q. Recently, NFT technology has become a hot topic, so what kind of technology is it and how is it being used?
▶Non-Fungible Token (NFT) is literally an ‘irreplaceable token’. Bitcoin, for example, has the same value as the one bitcoin I have and the one bitcoin that someone else has. However, NFT has the characteristic that it is unique because each token is different.
NFT can be used in many fields. Recently, there was a case where Lee Se-dol’s 9-dan and AlphaGo’s NFT was sold for 250 million won. Hunminjeongeum Haeryeok is also sold in NFT. NFT is still in the beginning stage, and we expect it to be used in various fields such as game items and metaverse in the future.
Q. Some point out that the entire digital asset market, including Bitcoin, is a bubble.
▶ Bubble is a very relative concept. When we look back at the past over time, we can judge whether it was a bubble or not, but we don’t know if it’s a bubble in the current state. The important thing is not the present, but how this technology can be used and what value it can be given in the future. In this digital age, all assets can be digitized, and if we are confident that digital assets can be used extensively in our real lives in the future, we can invest in them.
Source: news.mt.co.kr