Today two major Korean brands separately announced web3 initiatives. Hyundai Card, the $2 billion revenue credit card subsidiary of Hyundai Motors, announced a non fungible token (NFT) joint venture with LIKE LION to create the “Modern Lion” NFT marketplace and wallet. And Samsung US announced the launch of its Discord server.
Hyundai Card sees its entrance into the NFT space as a natural extension of its artificial intelligence and blockchain investment. Its partner, LIKE LION, is known for Meta Kongz, a randomly generated collection of profile picture NFTs with a floor price above $5,000 on the OpenSea NFT marketplace. Hyundai Card says it will mint NFTs based on its assets later this year.
In April, Hyundai Motors also partnered Meta Kongz to release 30 limited edition ‘Hyundai x Meta Kongz’ featuring a gorilla with a car on its head. Some NFTs from the collection have sold for more than $7,000 on OpenSea.
Samsung and web3
Meanwhile, Samsung portrayed the launch of its Discord server as a natural extension of its other web3 initiatives. Samsung first partnered with Discord in 2019 to integrate the app into the Galaxy Note 10.
Samsung’s web3 activities include a presence in the Decentraland metaverse as well as Roblox. In April, it partnered with the Nifty Gateway to develop a smart TV NFT platform.
The company was an early investor in major NFT brand Dapper Labs, the founder of the Flow blockchain, NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day. Samsung also previously invested in hardware wallet firm Ledger and, in Korea, launched the KlaytnPhone, based on the popular Korean blockchain Klaytn.
A subsidiary Samsung SDS, the conglomerate’s business technology arm, developed its own enterprise blockchain platform, the Samsung Nexledger, and has partnered with Tech Mahindra.
