BLACKPINK agency forges strategic partnership with Binance to push for NFT and other projects

By Lim Chang-won Posted : February 8, 2022, 17:16 Updated : February 9, 2022, 08:15

[Courtesy of YG Entertainment]

SEOUL -- Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, tied up with YG, an entertainment powerhouse in South Korea, to push for joint projects related to virtual assets, blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Binance will provide NFT platforms and technology infrastructure while YG will supply NFT content and gaming assets.

NFT is a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a digital ledger. It can be bought and sold digitally. South Korean entertainment companies have shown keen interest in NFTs to turn the intellectual property of artists into digital assets that can be displayed and exchanged in fan communities. As digital music streaming has become common, music can be shared by an unspecified number of people. NFTs allow a specific person to own original digital content that cannot be duplicated and record ownership information.

Binance and YG signed a memorandum of understanding to build a strategic partnership and cooperate on a range of blockchain projects, including NFT. They would develop games based on Binance Smart Chain (BSC), collaborate on building a metaverse platform, and actively pursue various digital asset opportunities to develop unique experiences and services for fans.

BSC has an independent blockchain with smart contract functionality. BSC’s dual-chain architecture allows users to build decentralized apps and digital assets on one blockchain and exchange it on another using the blockchain’s high-speed trading.

 They think their partnership will create positive synergies as the growth of NFT is paving the way for a change in the paradigm of the music and K-pop industry by serving more than just a consumption purpose for fans. 

YG will be allowed to more actively extend growth in the NFT market. "We plan to steadily build an innovative and eco-friendly NFT ecosystem," YG CEO Hwang Bo-kyung said in a joint statement on February 8. "Collaboration with Binance has provided an opportunity for YG to secure royalties and business opportunities for rare and valuable content." 

Through cooperation with YG, Binance hopes to create an eco-friendly ecosystem for NFTs and promote the use of sustainable blockchain platforms. "We hope that this will support the development of the global blockchain ecosystem, and bring further mainstream adoption of new assets, such as NFTs, to a new user base," said Binance's NFT global head Helen Hai.

Binance NFT is a multichain platform that uses a consensus agreement protocol that is more eco-friendly and energy-efficient than Bitcoin. Creating NFTs in an eco-friendly way is one of the considerations that Binance and YG emphasize during their collaboration.

The partnership comes as Binance, registered in the Cayman Islands, faces regulatory restrictions in several countries. In 2021, the cryptocurrency exchange was put under U.S. investigation on allegations of money laundering and tax offenses. 

The metaverse is a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space. It describes a future internet of persistent, shared, 3D virtual spaces linked into a perceived virtual universe, but common standards, interfaces, and communication protocols between and among virtual environment systems are still in development. Various South Korean companies have actively adopted metaverse platforms to bridge the gap between online and offline spaces.
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