Daesik Kim, the South Korean entrepreneur who built Bithumb into one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, has embarked on a new venture, joining digital payments protocol group Bezant as Chief Cryptocurrency Officer.
The move, announced today by Bezant, comes as the cryptocurrency sector in South Korea, and its exchanges in particular, adjust to the government’s ban of initial coin offerings (ICOs) in October.
Kim joins Bezant as the Southeast Asia-focused firm looks to raise a total of USD 40 million from its ICO, having already pulled in USD 6.28 million in a private sale, according to a press release.
In his new role, Kim will drive business, product, strategy, and partnerships for the company which operates primarily in the digital entertainment and e-commerce space. He sees developed markets as ripe for disruption, as well as growth opportunities in emerging ones.
“Digital entertainment and e-commerce are expanding faster in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, more so than in the US and China over the next four years,” Kim said. “Developed markets are dominated by a few incumbents that charge high commission fees, offering limited payment options, which are plagued by high exchange fees, bank charges, and payment delays.”
Bezant said its private blockchain network enables fluid payments and allows secure and reliable microtransactions, which are transparent and cost-efficient. The protocol avoids cryptocurrencies’ common problems of higher fees and slower transaction speeds, the release stated.
“With 600 million people in Southeast Asia, a large majority of which are unbanked, Bezant aims to disrupt digital payments and content distribution by applying blockchain and cryptocurrency to eliminate these barriers for buyers and sellers. Bezant’s protocol will minimize transaction fees, provide a decentralised rewards mechanism for sellers to build customer loyalty, establish a transparent rating system on sellers, and enable customers to make borderless payments using their local method,” Kim added.
Website link: https://bezant.io
