Kim Jong-hwan, CEO of Blocko Interview
“The use of blockchain infrastructure will become common like the cloud” Emphasizes the role of MSP
to help ease the use of blockchain Aiming for listing in the third quarter of next year… Plan to strengthen SaaS business with secured funds
“A few years ago, it was necessary to explain why we should use the cloud, but now it has become an infrastructure that everyone uses. As the Internet environment evolves into the Web3, blockchain is becoming an infrastructure that does not require explanation. The company’s interest has shifted to how to optimize the cost of using blockchain and launch services quickly and easily.”
Kim Jong-hwan, CEO of Blocko, a blockchain technology company , met with E-Daily at the office in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do on the 16th and emphasized that “the role of managed service providers ( MSPs ) has become important in the blockchain field as well.”
MSP is an industry that was created as the cloud industry developed. As the number of cloud providers such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google increases, companies are faced with the task of using multiple clouds as needed while comparing features and prices of each. MSP does this for you, and MSP provides a job that allows companies to operate the cloud at an optimal cost and even monitor it to prevent failures . In Korea, Bespin Global and Megazone are the representatives.
For the same reason as the cloud, there is also a demand for MSP in the blockchain field . Companies want to implement the necessary functions by mixing various blockchains and at the same time optimize the cost. For example, if you want to create a function that allows you to post membership NFTs on Instagram, you need to use Ethereum that works with Instagram, but Ethereum has a disadvantage in that transaction fees are too expensive. Costs can be reduced by using Argo, which is capable of token swapping (conversion) with Ethereum, as the underlying platform, and allowing conversion to Ethereum tokens only when posting on Instagram.
CEO Kim explained, “ In order to operate the NFT membership service, companies are starting to understand that there is no need to worry about how each blockchain technology is different and how much is the fee.”
Blocko has established itself as Korea’s leading blockchain MSP operator based on a high understanding of both blockchain and corporate IT systems. CEO Kim explained, “Ethereum is considered an industry standard, but it is difficult to apply it to corporate systems because of the unique technologies used in Ethereum such as Ethereum Virtual Machine ( EVM ) and Solidity programming language.” He then emphasized that the strength of Blocko is “It provides a structure that can be easily connected with the company’s existing system through Argo, which is acting as a technology partner, and can be linked with Ethereum in a token swap method.”
“Issuing NFT and point tokens with a few clicks ”… Blockchain No. 1 Listed Company Goal
Blocko is also working on a software-as-a-service ( SaaS ) business where companies can issue NFT memberships or blockchain-based points with a few clicks .
CCCV , an NFT issuance service operated by its subsidiary Blocko XYZ , has created various use cases since the service began in earnest in 2021 . Recently, Daehong Communications, an advertising agency affiliated with Lotte Group , started an NFT -based gift certificate service using Blocko CCCV . Daehong Communications also invested 5 billion won in Blocko as a strategic investor in July .
Token issuance SaaS Silvermine is also preparing for official launch. Currently, it is only open as a beta to partner companies. CEO Kim said, “There is a great demand for companies that want to issue blockchain-based points, and these companies are now issuing tokens by investing tens of thousands of won through specialized companies. It will be possible to publish.”
Blocko is aiming for a technology special listing in the third quarter of next year. Last year, it received an A grade in the mock technology evaluation and selected Shinhan Investment Corp. as the listing manager earlier this month. It is the fastest progress among blockchain technology companies preparing for listing. The company’s goal is to become the first blockchain listed company.
Since the evaluation of financial stability in the mock evaluation was relatively low, a multi-dimensional preparation was prepared to supplement this part. CEO Kim emphasized, “As Daehong Planning entered as a strategic investor, the areas with which Lotte Group can collaborate have increased, and it has become possible to secure a pipeline that can generate steady sales.” He added, “We are highly dependent on service sales for about 40 % of our total sales of 3 billion won , and we are trying to diversify our revenue sources by expanding our SaaS business.”
The funds obtained through the IPO are also planned to be used to secure a SaaS platform. We are considering not only developing our own SaaS service, but also accelerating (nurturing) an external SaaS company or merging ( M&A ). CEO Kim said, “ SaaS has a high rate of return and has the characteristic of being used over and over again .
By Lim Yoo-kyung