(Kitco News) – South Korea continues to be at the forefront of the adoption and integration of blockchain technology as the Asian nation has launched a virtual replica of its capital city, Seoul, the first stage in a project that has been dubbed “Metaverse Seoul.” South Korea said the project is reportedly the first city-backed public metaverse platform in the world.
According to a press release announcing the project, Metaverse Seoul is a three-part project that is expected to be completed in 2026. During the first stage, Metaverse Seoul is focused on improving the efficiency of public administration services and will allow citizens to use personal avatars to explore the platform and access a variety of services such as obtaining proof of citizenship, tax counseling, youth mentoring, and a support center for struggling businesses.
The second stage, which is expected to go live in 2024, will expand the available services to include real estate counseling and connecting foreign investors with local industries. The third stage will focus on integrating virtual and augmented reality technology to help manage the city’s infrastructure. There are also plans to introduce blockchain technologies including cryptocurrency.
Court rules against P2E game
As evidence that the country also remains focused on the regulation side of the crypto industry, a court in South Korea has ruled against the release of a blockchain-based play-to-earn (P2E) game after determining that in-game non-fungible tokens (NFT) promote speculation.
According to a report from Yonhap News Agency, South Korean game developer SkyPeople, the game studio behind the NFT game Five Stars, filed an appeal to an earlier ruling arguing that in-game items and characters minted as NFTs are not…
