Yesterday, South Korean software giant Hancom entered a partnership with Shinhan DS, the IT services unit of Shinhan Bank, to build a blockchain-based digital asset management platform.
Shinhan Bank is the second-largest commercial bank in South Korea, with a market capitalisation of $14.5 billion. As of 2018, it had total assets of KRW 459.6 trillion ($381 billion).
Meanwhile, Hancom is known for its office suite software and has published the Hangul Office word processing application. It is popular in the country since it supports the Korean language.
Now, the two companies will work together to develop the digital asset management platform. Hancom, which has prior experience in blockchain, will provide blockchain research and development personnel, while Shinhan will lead the technology strategy and platform structure design.
Hancom is already using blockchain as part of its smart city platform. It developed a proprietary protocol, HancomSLedger, for enterprises to build applications.
Additionally, the software firm offers a Blockchain Security Suite, combining blockchain and Hancom Secure security solutions for encryption key management and biometric identity. The encryption key solution seems to have been trialed by online-only banks, Kakaobank and KBank, financed by KT (formerly Korea Telecom). Kakaobank is a joint venture between messaging platform Kakao and Korea Investment Holdings.
This effort is part of Hancom With, an online security and blockchain wing of the Hancom Group. Last year, the unit launched a blockchain-based small parcel delivery service called “Quick-service”, reported Aju Daily.
Meanwhile, last year, Shinhan Bank entered into a deal with Small Business Market Promotion Corporation (or SEMAS) to build a loan management platform based on blockchain.
Other applications Shinhan is exploring include credit card payments, credentialing for loan applications, security systems, and derivatives.
Blockchain for digital assets is gaining ground worldwide. In Europe, Swiss stock exchange owner SIX is planning to launch a digital asset exchange and is working with Swisscom to develop the ecosystem.
Boerse Stuttgart and Japan’s SBI Group are collaborating to develop a blockchain-based digital asset ecosystem in Europe and Asia. Boerse Stuttgart also has blockchain-based digital asset exchange, which it developed with Axel Springer and finanzen.net.
