In the rapidly evolving landscape of technology, South Korea’s KT Corporation, a leading telecommunications giant boasting over $32 billion in assets, has announced a significant shift. As of March 4, the company is set to close down MINCL, its non-fungible token (NFT) platform. This decision, attributed to “shifting business conditions,” marks a notable change in direction for KT Enterprise, the group’s digital transformation subsidiary.
In light of this development, KT Corporation has advised holders of KT Wiz Rookie Pack NFTs, the digital card collectibles celebrating its professional baseball team, to transfer these assets to external e-wallets. The reason? After the service conclusion date, access to view or download any NFTs remaining on MINCL will be unavailable.
Launched in April 2022, MINCL carved its niche in the digital asset market by providing services in NFT minting, trading, and wallet management. It catered to a diverse clientele, ranging from retail to institutional users. However, in response to our inquiry for a comment on this closure, KT Corporation has maintained silence, not providing an immediate response.
KT Corporation’s move mirrors a broader South Korean tech industry trend. Recently, Netmarble F&C, a prominent game developer in the country, reportedly dismissed all 70 employees in its metaverse division, proceeding towards liquidating the subsidiary. This is particularly striking, considering the chairman of Netmarble, Bang Jun-hyuk, had previously expressed a strong belief in the metaverse as a pivotal future business avenue in 2022.
Similarly, Com2uS, another major player in the local gaming industry, underwent a restructuring of its metaverse division, Com2Verse, last September. This move followed a reported operating loss of approximately $9.7 million in the third quarter of 2023.
Echoing this trend, Hyundai Department Store, a major retail conglomerate under the Hyundai Group, is also set to terminate its digital wallet service, H.NFT, by the end of March.
Park Hye-jin, an expert in metaverse technology at the Seoul School of Integrated Sciences & Technologies, provided insight into these developments. Park says such decisions often arise when company executives perceive a lack of substantial short-term earnings in ongoing ventures. “This kind of thing always happens when a large company challenges or starts new businesses based on FOMO (Fear of Missing Out),” Park commented.
In summary, KT Corporation’s decision to shut down MINCL reflects a broader pattern within South Korea’s tech sector, where large corporations are reassessing and sometimes retracting from ventures in the digital and metaverse domains.
