S. Korea's SK Square to Launch Crypto Token by Year-End: Report

The crypto will be the first to be issued among the nation's top conglomerates.

SK Square, an affiliate of South Korea's third-largest conglomerate by revenue SK Group, plans to launch a cryptocurrency by the end of the year.

SK Square, an IT investment arm that was spun off from SK Telecom in November 2021, has set up a blockchain task force that is responsible for the project, the Korea Economic Daily reported on Wednesday. The token will be the first of its kind launched by any company under the purview of South Korea's top 10 conglomerates.

The cryptocurrency is aimed at integrating virtual economies across the group's businesses, the newspaper reported. It will be used in SK Telecom's metaverse platform Ifland, SK Planet’s membership program and 11ST's e-commerce services.

SK Inc, the group's holding company, is the largest shareholder of SK Square and SK Telecom with 30% stakes in both.

SK Square has invested KRW 100 billion (US$82 million) in blockchain and metaverse projects, the newspaper reported.

It is also the largest shareholder of SK Hynix, the world's second-largest memory chipmaker after Samsung.

In November 2021, SK Telecom spent KRW 87.3 billion acquire a 35% stake in crypto exchange Korbit.

SK Inc. (KRX), the corporate holding company, booked KRW 98 trillion in revenue in 2021, which makes it the third-largest conglomerate in South Korea after Samsung and Hyundai.