Politician: ‘Crypto vs Blockchain Debate Is Wasteful’; LG Crypto Moves

Leading politician Lee Sang-min, an MP for South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party, has launched another scathing attack on the government’s two-pronged cryptocurrency/blockchain policy. Seoul has been attempting to promote blockchain-related growth, backing enterprises with massive grants – while at the same time rendering crypto-business investment almost impossible.

The government earlier this year decided to uphold its initial coin offering (ICO) ban.

Lee called Seoul’s ongoing blockchain vs cryptocurrency “wasteful.” In an interview with Fn News, he said, “Developing a blockchain ecosystem necessarily involves creating a cryptocurrency-type compensation system. It’s a natural part of the process.”

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin made similar comments to National Assembly policymakers during a visit to Seoul earlier this month.

Lee is the chairman of the Democratic Party’s Committee on Science and Technology. He drafted a private member’s bill looking to overturn the ban earlier this year, and now says he intends to push ahead with it. A similar bill, proposed by a National Assembly subcommittee last year, also won the support of several MPs critical of the ICO ban.

Also, awile international media outlets last week reported on the possibility of a “Samsung Coin” and Samsung blockchain, it appears that the Samsung Group’s biggest domestic rival is looking to make moves of its own.

LG, one of South Korea’s biggest business groups, is stepping up its cryptocurrency and blockchain collaboration with one of the country’s biggest banks.

Newspim reports says LG and banking group KB are now ready to intensify their collaboration, with a view to co-developing blockchain-powered insurance products and a payment platform. The duo also wants to create a blockchain consortium, bringing in as-yet-unnamed logistics and entertainment companies as fellow members.

LG has been taking a very similar tack to Samsung in channeling the majority of its blockchain-related activities through an IT services affiliate. In Samsung’s case, this is Samsung SDS, which last week launched its Nexledger Universal enterprise blockchain platform.

As previously reported, LG’s own IT services subsidiary, LG CNS, has been working on a behind-closed-doors token of its own at a USD 3.7 billion research center in Seoul. Newspim reports that, as widely believed, KB is collaborating on the project – which allows LG employees to pay at a company-owned restaurant using the LG token.

LG is also hoping KB can help commercialize its Monachain platform.

The two companies formalized their working relationship with a memorandum of understanding signed back in January.