Tag: South Korea

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Seoul Examining Blockchain Military Applications

In 2019, there is little doubt that blockchain technology will be utilized in a variety of sectors and industries. Over the years, there have been some obvious applications that blockchain is usually associated with, including sectors such as global payments, logistics, and data storage.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that blockchain is limited to these sectors, by any means. In fact, it appears as though South Korea is exploring how blockchain can possibly aid with their military.

Not The First

It should be clarified that South Korea is, by no means, the first country to explore military applications. Superpowers such as the United States and Russia have already been open about the fact that they might utilize blockchain for military purposes, particularly when it comes to making sure that communications are secure.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) in South Korea is planning on spending over $500,000 for various projects to develop blockchain solutions to military issues. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the United States has made it clear that they are interested in blockchain, as well.

Fourth Industrial Revolution

South Korea has always been on the cutting edge of technology, and its government has been open about referencing the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, which would incorporate technological trends such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

While some in the Korean government don’t necessarily advocate publicly for blockchain or cryptocurrency markets; there is one high-profile South Korean politician that has always promoted cryptocurrency. This would be Park Won-Soon, the mayor of Seoul. The mayor has even suggested that the city create its own cryptocurrency, the “S Coin”. The city has also set up a 100 billion won (around $88 billion in USD) fund in order to fund blockchain startups, as well.In addition, Korea has already been developing its own blockchain-based voting system since last year.

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South Korean Court Acquits Bithumb

One of the issues with an emerging technology that has the potential to be disruptive is the fact that often times, the world doesn’t know exactly how to respond. By now, it is clear that blockchain technology and cryptocurrency can be applied to many sectors – but governments and courts are unclear on the exact laws and regulations that should apply.

In a new development, a South Korean court has acquitted the cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb with respect to a court case. The issue revolves around the fact that a client claims that hackers were “allowed” to steal cash and crypto assets from the exchange, and the amount in question is substantial. Specifically, the amount is over $300,000 (the exact amount is 400 million Korean won, which pans out to about $355,000 USD).

About The Case

The user’s name is Anh Park, and the incident occurred over a year ago, when Bitcoin was in the midst of a massive bull run, and many were much more optimistic about the cryptocurrency markets. The exact day of the incident was November 30, 2017.

Park alleges that Bithumb’s security is to blame. Hackers were able to enter Park’s account, and empty it of almost all of the money (save a few cents). It should be noted that one of the main points of the case is the fact that Bithumb’s security was compromised before, because information about over 30,000 users were compromised thanks to hackers gaining access to a Bithumb employee’s records. Since the exchange’s security was already compromised – the argument is that the exchange is at fault. The company has claimed that it has compensated all involved.

Precedents and Obligations

Bithumb’s argument was that it isn’t responsible for compensation, since it technically isn’t a financial firm of any kind. The lawsuit gained attention because many users worldwide want to know whether exchanges are technically obligated to compensate for users during security breaches like this.

It’s clear that the court sided with Bithumb, which sets a dangerous precedent. This might trouble investors and traders who are concerned about their funds getting hacked and having no legal recourse. Of course, time will tell whether this case is influential on a global level with regards to exchanges and financial obligations.

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South Korea Business School Offers Crypto MBA

In order for the cryptocurrency markets to thrive, more and more investors are going to have to enter the space. This also means that more cryptocurrency traders and investors need to learn about cryptocurrency, as well.

One country that has been particularly interested in cryptocurrency is South Korea. A major business school in South Korea is now offering a “Crypto MBA” now, following the lead of many other prestigious educational institutions as University of Pennsylvania and Cornell, which also offer blockchain-related courses, as well.

About The Course

Seoul School of Integrated Sciences And Technologies is commonly known as “Assist”, and now offers a year-and-a-half Crypto MBA program. The program will cover much discussed topics in cryptocurrency, such as smart contracts, game theory, decentralized apps, and other topics.

The school offered an official statement: “The mission of Assist business school’s Crypto MBA program is to remedy the lack of academic research and systematic education currently available in the industry, despite a high level of social interest in the blockchain and cryptocurrency.”

Education Trend

More universities around the world are offering courses related to cryptocurrency and blockchain, and this includes some of the most well-respected educational institutions in the world.

Emin Gun Sirer, an Associate Professor at Cornell University, recently spoke about how surprised he was at how many students were interested in learning about blockchain. He was stunned to find out that over 80 students had shown up to the class. For context, he said: “Usually when you have five to a dozen students in such a class, you’re teaching a popular class.”

The trend doesn’t appear to be slowing, either. In fact, in a new survey of hundreds of undergrad students – over a quarter of them are interested in taking a blockchain course, and almost 10% of those surveyed already have. The survey was conducted by Coinbase, in conjunction with research firm Qriously.