South Korea

Solana Ventures Unveils a USD100 Million Fund for DeFi and GameFi in South Korea

The new fund is expected to help support the growth of NFTs, DeFi, and Gaming projects on Solana and further keep developers of the collapsed Terra ecosystem on their feet. 

The Funds to Support DeFi and GameFi Development, Developers from Terra

Solana Foundation and Solana Ventures have created a USD100 million fund to assist with the growth of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized finance, and blockchain gaming projects in South Korea. 

Apart from supporting projects that are built on the Solana blockchain, the fund will further help to keep Terra-based projects on their feet after the infamous collapse of their ecosystem in May. 

The Solana Foundation is of the view that developers on the Tera platform are not responsible for what happens on their blockchain. “The developers did nothing really wrong, but they’re left in the lurch,” said Johnny B. Lee, the general manager of games at Solana Foundation. 

The new fund will also cement the long-term goal of Solana to become the ideal gaming blockchain. In November last year, Solana raised another USD100 million with Lightspeed Ventures and crypto exchange FXT. Also, 150 million was raised with two game-focused companies: Forte and Griffin Gaming Partners.

South Korea is a Hotbed of NFTs and DeFi

South Korea is emerging as an important hotbed of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) development. The country’s administration is pledging USD187 million to create its own metaverse. The Korean metaverse will mainly focus on the growth of digital corporations and digital content in the country. 

The Solana Foundation is keeping its target on gaming finance (GameFi), and decentralized finance (DeFi) for fast growth in the country as firms start to vie for grant money. 

The competition to develop the best platforms is on, with a number of other platforms already offering access to DeFi or NFTs. A good example is the Upbit exchange which boasts of a total of USD274 million in total-locked-value (TLV), according to DefiLlama. Upbit is the nation’s largest exchange and features its own NFT marketplace

Despite the competition, domestic companies might find it challenging to launch their own blockchain-based games in the country. The law bans games from issuing monetary rewards, including in cryptos. It is this law that made Google and Apple remove their play-to-earn games from Korean stores in 2021. 

DeFi activities and NFT trading on Solana blockchain have been on the rise in recent months. Magic Eden, the Solana’s top NFT marketplace, is the 2nd largest on the planet, with about 35,526 daily traders and USD7.31 million in daily volume. This means it is only second to OpenSea, according to DappRadar. 

By providing more funding for the ecosystem, Solana might finally be able to address the challenge of instability that has become common since 2021. 

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