| A logo of Lambda256 is displayed at the main office in Seoul. Courtesy of Lambda256 |
Lambda256 expects triple sales growth in booming blockchain industry
By Lee Min-hyung
| Lambda256 CEO Park Jae-hyun |
Lambda256, a blockchain subsidiary of Korea’s dominant crypto exchange operator Dunamu, expects its representative blockchain platform – Luniverse – to gradually expand its foothold as a more globally influential service with its price competitiveness and market responsiveness, the firm’s CEO Park Jae-hyun said during a recent interview.
The Dunamu-affiliated company debuted in May 2018, operating the blockchain-as-a-service platform for clients here and abroad. The cloud-based blockchain infrastructure provider remains less well-known in the US and Europe despite its robust sales growth in its home market.
But the firm’s executive expressed optimism for gradual forays into not just the Asia-Pacific region, but others across the globe.
“Blockchain technology is becoming more and more publicly available, and we are a company that plays a role in making blockchain easier for our customers to access,” Park said. “Luniverse is at the center of the role. The platform still has a way to go for globalization. Our short-term goal is to expand our market share in Asia which has huge growth potential thanks to an ever-increasing demand for blockchain. For example, the number of Southeast Asian blockchain-powered game users projected to rise further.”
The Lambda256 CEO chose price competitiveness as the most attractive selling point of Luniverse.
“Luniverse offers various blockchain features at a very affordable price that is much cheaper than our large counterparts in the US,” he said. “Another key feature includes our responsiveness to the market. When we receive reviews and requests from our customers, we reflect their demands on our platform within a quarter on average.”
Luniverse helps its users set up their private blockchain system and allows them to easily access public chains like Polygon, according to Lambda256.
The company reported solid sales growth last year. Its annual sales in 2022 rose to 7.23 billion won ($5.46 million) from 2.75 billion won in 2021. But the company has yet to achieve a turnaround with a net loss of 46.5 billion won last year.
But Park shrugged off the loss, citing the company’s humble beginnings.
“Most of the loss stemmed from our new investment and employee stock compensation,” he said. “We are in an excellent position to position ourselves as a more influential global firm. Even as sales grow, relevant investments should also be made.”
| Lambda256 CEO Park Jae-hyun delivers a speech during the Upbit Developer Conference 2020 held online on Dec. 4, 2020. Courtesy of Lambda256 |
The future of Luniverse
He expected the firm’s sales to triple this year due to the overall growth of the blockchain industry.
“A prerequisite for sustainable growth in the blockchain industry here is to build an environment where developers can build and create better services without much difficulty, but this is not the case in Korea for reasons such as weak technological support and education,” he said.
“We play a crucial role in helping them do that. As long as blockchain exists and more and more relevant data accumulates, the importance of blockchain infrastructure will grow larger. We can gain more competitive advantage than most mainnet players in the blockchain industry.”
Expansion into the financial sector
Lambda256 is rapidly expanding its blockchain presence amid growing demand from conventional technology sectors as well as the financial industry. The company is a major partner of some major investment firms for their securities token offering (STO) business. Earlier this year, the country’s top financial regulator gave approval for the issuance and distribution of securities tokens for digital trading of fractional assets – including real estate and art.
The firm has teamed up with Shinhan Securities and Hanwha Investment & Securities, helping the latter establish its relevant blockchain infrastructure and design digital wallets for the security tokens transaction.
“After the government approved STO, more financial firms are asking for partnership with us, since stable blockchain operation is the key for their new revenue area,” he said.
Lambda256 is also betting heavily on the growth potential in the STO market here and abroad. In January, the company decided to establish an investment fund worth 10 billion won for the ecosystem of STO.
“The capital is used for joint technology development with our partners, not only for STO, but the Web 3.0 era,” he said.
The company is also expanding its foothold within Web 3.0. for the blockchain system of Momentica ― a digital collectibles platform operated by Levvels, a joint venture set up by Dunamu and Korea’s leading entertainment company, HYBE. The US-based company targets fast-growing global fandom markets.
“Momentica is an innovative Web 3.0. service, and we will spare no effort to provide optimal technological support for the platform,” said Park.
