This article has been rewritten as of May 2020. It’ll be continually updated to catalog developments of the ICON ecosystem in the context of its relationship with the Korean Government.

This is the first of a series of deep dives into ICON by ICON Hyperconnect P-Rep. Follow for daily updates on ICON here.

Order of Contents

ICON x Korea National Election Committee ICON Council x Jeju Governor ICON x Seoul Government x Mayor Park Won-soon x S-Coin ICON Council: KJ Eee x Korea Blockchain Association ICON x Korea National Assembly x Estonian President ICON x Minister of Science & ICT Award. ICON x Jeju Blockchain Regulatory Sandbox ICON x The World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO) ICON’s MyID Alliance x Financial Services Commission What’s Next for ICON and Korea?

Why the World is watching the Korean Government

Korea once accounted for the largest ETH trading volume in the world. An argument could be made that the government’s decision to block new fiat deposits to Korean exchanges and its regulatory uncertainty sparked the bear market of 2018. Many including CZ of Binance have declared Korea to be one of the most important crypto markets in the world, and Binance Korea has just launched in March 2020. In that same month, Korean lawmakers have finally provided regulatory clarity. We’ve come full circle, and it’s indisputable that Korea is a key player.

What’s unique about the Korean Crypto market?

In 2017, when Korean cryptocurrency prices were setting global records, something was happening uniquely in Korea: 30% of all working people had invested in cryptocurrencies. This is a population density of crypto investors that’s globally unheard of. This unprecedented penetration normalized the idea of cryptocurrencies on a national scale which fundamentally changed the nature of the market.

In 2020, much of the blockchain industry has cooled off. However, the Korean crypto market remains unique in that leading traditional companies have invested considerable capital looking to tokenize or apply blockchain to their existing business models. That is to say that top companies, not those starved for money, looked towards the blockchain/cryptocurrency market as the next sector to conquer, much like they viewed the web and mobile markets.

Source: Cointelegraph (Note: Bithumb was recently purchased by BK Consortium, led by Korea’s leading plastic surgery clinic)

This is already apparent in the fact that some of the largest corporations in Korea already have skin in the game via equity in the largest exchanges in Korea. Despite this, the only public Korean blockchain platform that makes the front page of coinmarketcap is ICON.

Some users of Loopchain, the core blockchain engine of ICON.

What does that mean for ICON and Korea?

This puts both Korea and ICON in a unique position. As mentioned, the majority of projects from Korea are those that require platforms, not build them. And as the current leading platform in Korea, ICON is focused on serving these projects. Hence, the prominent business partnerships with companies like LINE (joint venture), Samsung Electronics, SK Planet, and Smilegate and several other initiatives that ICON is working on.

MyID Alliance Members.

One of ICON’s flagship initiatives can be considered to be the MyID Alliance, which aims to create a digital identity solution for its partners on the ICON blockchain. This is the only digital ID consortium which has been approved by the Financial Services Commission (Korea’s SEC) and includes 62 industry leaders including Samsung, Korea’s largest banks, and government entities that have pledged to use ICON’s identity solution.

The MyID Alliance Advisory Board includes prominent advisors such as the former Deputy Prime Minister of Korea, and multiple Former Chairmen of the Financial Services Commission.

The number of members in the MyID Alliance has risen steadily, and in recent months, included the addition of active crypto companies such as Bithumb and Binance Korea.

While many of these entities have built out solutions on ICON’s private blockchain networks, ICON has recently announced that its first proof of concept of interoperability has been successful and is looking to launch Blockchain Transmission Protocol in the coming months. This is important, as it enables ICON’s expansive network to communicate with each other via smart contracts. Eventually the end goal of interoperability is to connect disparate blockchain protocols and not just all of ICON’s networks.

It’s clear that Korea’s interest in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry remains strong and ICON’s push to expand its network has been relentless.

Leading Government Initiatives

Since 2016, ICON has been at the center of several core government blockchain initiatives and is its leading blockchain tech partner.

ICON is working on several government backed projects in the Insurance, Healthcare, Customs Service, and Education industries and received government funding from both the Ministry of Creation and Science and the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.

ICON has continually launched several initiatives with the government and has taken an active role in leading the way for Korea’s blockchain industry. In this article, I’ll explore them in the following order below.