Lotte Group, one of the predominant conglomerates in South Korea has established a new partnership with the Polygon network, reinforcing the belief that Polygon is being set up as the next dominant blockchain on web3 as a number of significantly large companies continue signing with the blockchain to deliver a new a type of product to customers. 

The collaboration marks another significant step into web3 for South Korea as the country continues to explore new opportunities regarding blockchain technology and its ability to create new jobs in the country. 

BellyGom Season 2 NFT 

The partnership is centered around the beginning of the BellyGom NFTs which was originally launched on the Klaytn network in August 2022. However, the Klaytn network is relatively unheard of in the NFT community with a market cap that sits below $1 billion and a token price that hovers around $0.30.

It appears Lotte has decided that it would be best to switch to a better network that is more popular, deciding that Polygon would be the best choice for their second season of BellyGom similar to Frank’s decision to migrate Dust Labs away from the Solana network.  

South Korea’s President is pro-crypto

Lotte’s foray into web3 could suggest a larger change in South Korea. The country’s President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was elected in 2022, has been largely supportive of the web3 industry, expressing a significant interest in the industry and how it could help expand South Korea’s economy which was criticized as stagnant under former President Moon Jae-in’s leadership. 

However, since his election, cryptocurrencies have taken a major tumble in value and opinions may have swayed since his election campaign first began. 

Polygon is not TerraLUNA

TerraLUNA, the first crypto business to lead the long series of collapses in 2022, first began by South Korean native Do Kwon. Although the business was eventually moved to Singapore in an effort to receive lighter tax burdens, his influence on the public perception of cryptocurrency in South Korea still remained impactful as he represented one of the most successful networks and DeFi platforms available. 

However, Polygon offers a different story that could be quite significant for Lotte and the South Korean economy. Polygon has strategically established itself as an effective network with a multitude of companies joining its network because of fast transaction times and low gas fees; and, unlike Solana, the network is incredibly reliable.

A boon for the country?

A move towards web3 could be a massive boon for the country which is a leader in technology. While Lotte itself does not have the same tech branches as LG or Samsung, it could spur other chaebols to consider pursuing similar avenues in the industry. 

Companies like Samsung could do well to consider incorporating blockchain technology into their smartphones (similar to Solana’s upcoming Saga smartphone) to test potential use cases with the polygon network which could then be interoperable with Lotte’s NFT program or integrate new features that make Kakao more interactive for users.