South Korea-headquartered LG Electronics has added blockchain and cryptocurrency to its business portfolio.
LG’s Blockchain and Crypto Game Plans
At the annual general meeting on March 24, LG Electronics shareholders approved the development of “blockchain-based software” and “cryptocurrency sales and brokerage” as two new business areas.
Although LG has included the sale and brokerage of cryptocurrency in its business charter, it doesn’t seem to be opening a digital exchange just yet. Replying to a question if the company plans to open a trading platform for digital assets, a company spokesperson said, “Nothing has been decided yet… We just mentioned business areas in a broad manner.”
However, LG Electronics has been working with blockchain company GroundX and NFT solutions provider Seoul Auction Blue to introduce smart TVs with NFT capabilities, a version of which was introduced last month, according to a local report.
In the past year, LG has exited from smartphone and solar panel businesses proving to be unprofitable. However, the firm is the fourth largest company in South Korea. It recorded an annual turnover of $63.16 billion and an operating profit of $3.27 billion in 2021.
LG and Samsung align on emerging technologies
LG’s adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrency as new areas of business is in line with the growing trend of large corporations aligning their business development goals with emerging technologies.
Samsung, the largest among the South Korean companies, recently announced that it would integrate an NFT Aggregation Platform into a new series of Smart TVs it plans to introduce later this year. This feature will present NFT marketplace data on the users’ TV sets, which can also be used to view their digital collections as well as buy new ones.
The adoption of blockchain-powered businesses and features by South Korean companies such as Samsung and LG Electronics builds on an overall crypto-friendly environment in the country following Yoon Suk-yeol’s victory in the recently concluded presidential election.
During his election campaign, Yoon Suk-yeol promised to allow ICO and provide tax relief on crypto income. He will assume office in May this year.
Part of growing trends in crypto adoption
Over the past few months, several leading companies have taken initiatives with the opportunities offered by cryptocurrency and NFT in mind. For example, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) filed a trademark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for the digital exchange and NFT market last month.
In a similar vein, Apple introduced features in its iPhones that allow crypto payments through cards provided by merchant banks.
