South Korea’s Busan Unveils Vision for Blockchain City, Launches 100 Billion Won Innovation Fund and Digital Exchange Hub

According to a local media outlet, Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city, announced ambitious plans to transform itself into a global blockchain powerhouse. With a vision that goes beyond adoption, Busan is gearing up to become a blockchain metropolis.

Busan City Is Building A Mainnet 

Busan City has unveiled plans to construct a city-level blockchain mainnet, aiming to consolidate various blockchain-based services onto a singular platform. This initiative is designed to be compatible with prominent global blockchain mainnets, including Ethereum and Cosmos.

The announcement highlighted the city’s commitment to advancing blockchain mainnet development as a crucial commitment of the ‘Busan Digital Asset Exchange Establishment Promotion Plan and Future Schedule.’

Busan City’s vision is to transform itself into a ‘Blockchain City’ with the Busan Digital Asset Exchange. Additionally, the city is set to introduce a Blockchain Innovation Fund to further its blockchain endeavors.

Historically, Busan City has been recognized as a special blockchain regulation-free zone, pioneering various blockchain projects like B-Pass and digital vouchers. However, the diverse blockchain mainnets utilized for individual projects led to a disjointed user experience.

To address this, Busan City is now focused on creating a mainnet that aligns with domestic blockchain standards while ensuring compatibility with global counterparts such as Ethereum and Cosmos. Emulating the transparency of Ethereum and Cosmos, Busan’s mainnet will also be an ‘open blockchain’, granting public access to transaction data.

Furthermore, Busan City is set to play a significant role in shaping the blockchain trust framework (BTF) technology standard, an initiative led by the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA). This standard aims to push the caliber of private services, bring inter-service connectivity, and set benchmarks for blockchain technical systems, performance, and security. Notably, this standard will also be integrated into Busan City’s public services. 

Busan Digital Asset Exchange And Billion Won Fund

Busan City also revealed its grand vision to transform into a “blockchain city,” with the Busan Digital Asset Exchange at its core. This transformation is set to be accelerated by a massive 100 billion won (approximately $750 million) blockchain innovation fund.

The Busan Digital Asset Exchange Corporation is slated for a launch this November. Before its establishment, a public offering process in October will be conducted to select a suitable business. The final selection will culminate in the formation of the corporation. The chosen consortium is expected to unveil a comprehensive business plan during the ‘BWB 2023’ event in November, with full-scale exchange operations anticipated to commence in the first half of 2024.

Interestingly, the exchange will initially steer clear of virtual assets or token securities (ST). Instead, it will focus on supporting blockchain-based transactions of tangible ‘products’ like precious metals and raw materials. The overarching goal is to tokenize these products, ensuring their transparent trade on the blockchain. Items frequently traded through Busan Port, including gold, silver, copper, and crude oil, will be tokenized for this purpose. 

Future plans involve tokenizing and trading global intellectual property rights (IP) and carbon emissions rights. The city also intends to eventually expand its trading scope to include token securities (ST). Additionally, Busan City is introducing the Blockchain Innovation Fund (BBF). Spearheaded by Busan’s financial and public institutions, BBF is a private fund designed to accelerate the city’s blockchain industry and infrastructure. The aim is to amass funds exceeding 100 billion won through investments from Busan’s public financial institutions. 

Furthermore, the city is gearing up to establish the ‘Busan Blockchain Alliance (BBA).’ This business alliance is dedicated to actualizing Busan’s vision of a blockchain-centric city. Busan City has announced its intention to introduce 100 BBA member companies during the ‘BWB 2023’ event in November.

Since August of the previous year, Busan has forged collaborations with major platforms like Binance, Gate.io, Huobi Global, Crypto.com, and FTX.com (prior to its bankruptcy) to establish its city-endorsed digital asset exchange.