To round off 2018, GBIC and Block72 had time to take a look at our footsteps and share thoughts about 2019. In this posting we have summarized the achievements of GBIC and Block72 and the driving force behind us for 2018.
Unceasing efforts to understand ever-changing technology and industry
The blockchain industry is one of the fastest-changing industries. GBIC and Block72 quickly adapted to the changes by thoroughly investigating trends in the industry, technology, and regulations and situations of each market.
For example, in last August and September, China made sudden announcements regarding its regulation on exchanges and ICO. We were able to make quick decisions based on accurate research data provided our Shanghai Office. The same goes for security tokens that have emerged as a hot topic recently. Early on, we realized STO’s potential and have been closely following the SEC’s announcement and market conditions and conducting research. Last November, Block72 published a report titled “STO Analysis and Outlook: One Side Is the Utopia and the Other Side Is Wall Street”. The report analyzes STO from every aspect, from classification of security token and realization of tokenized tokens to outlook on the future of STO for projects and investors, and was published by Blocktempo, Taiwan’s leading blockchain media.
In addition, Block72 publishes industry briefings in partnership with TokenInsight, a global token data analytics and rating agency. We recently published an industry briefing on blockchain platforms, for which we reviewed the performance of platform projects — such as Ethereum, EOS, Cardano, TRON, NEO, and Lisk — from March to September 2018 from economic and technical perspective. Our industry briefings are published by Hankyung.com, Korea’s top-tier media with focus on blockchain news, and the reports will cover various topics, including payment token industry and financial dApps. (Click here for Hankyung.com article in Korean on Block72 X TokenInsight’s Blockchain Platform Industry Briefing)
We have also established a blockchain news platform Blockzone to keep up with industry and market trends. Blockzone, which focuses on blockchain news in Asia, does not only handles news articles, but also creates insightful contents based on internal research team. Some of notable contents from Blockzone that contain in-depth analysis of current blockchain issues and trends are:
- For Asian Miners to Continue to Survive, Efficiency Has to Be Doubled Down
- Aftermath of BCH Hash War: the End of Fork Coins
- South Asia’s Crypto Foundations Continue to Grow Strong
Furthermore, while conducting project consulting, we classified 100+ blockchain projects and analyzed the maturity of the project, ecosystem, and industry via comprehensive research. And we derived meaningful conclusions based on our research and study on exchanges, which are crucial for internal decision-making process as a crypto fund and consulting firm.
Our capability has laid the foundations for our success in helping our global top-tier projects grow. Based on our understanding of blockchain technology and industry, and our rapid and accurate research, we will continue to make substantial progress in the future.
Connecting blockchain ecosystem in Korea, China, and the US
While research is an essential element of GBIC and Block72, our mission is to bridge the major markets in the blockchain industry. Blockchain industry global in nature. In other words, rather than focusing on one region or country, projects need to be global to increase the likelihood of success. Unlike startups, it is difficult for blockchain projects to go overseas after establishing a business in a single region — it needs to go global from the very beginning.
We have offices in Seoul, New York, San Francisco, Beijing and Shanghai, covering English, Chinese and Korean languages. Our focus on these three core markets enables us to support blockchain projects with developing strategies, establishing ecosystems, and creating communities. Thanks to our broad coverage, in 2018 GBIC was named as Top 10 Most Influential Crypto funds by 36Kr and Odaily, in terms of fund size, investment return, ecological layout, and post-investment management.
To explain why Korea, China, and the US are the key markets in the blockchain industry, GBIC and Block72’s partner Sinhae Lee published an op-ed piece on Financial Times China. In the article, she explains how these three regions are taking a lead in terms of innovation, trading volume, regulations, and investment.
Sharing knowledge with global blockchain communities
GBIC and Block72 regularly host conferences and meet-ups in Korea, China and the US. Last October, we hosted “Blockchain x Odyssey: San Francisco” meet-up during the San Francisco Blockchain Week and provided insightful free-of-charge sessions with 15 speakers from exchanges, funds, and project, which attracted more than 200 participants. We also recently successfully hosted the second WDAS — World Digital Assets Summit. Following the first WADS held last May in Singapore, WDAS2 in San Francisco received positive reviews from the audience who were impressed by the high-quality sessions.
In Korea, GBIC and Block72 partnered with major media to host blockchain conferences. Last June, GBIC co-hosted 2018 Blockchain Korea Conference with Asia Economy TV and discussed blockchain technology’s potential and the government and companies’ role for the development of cryptocurrency. And in November, we co-hosted the 2018 Korea Blockchain Expo with Hankyung.com, Deloitte and Hashed. The Expo, held for two days, was a fruitful conference with around 2,500 people participating from projects, investors, exchanges and media, addressing topics around regulation and investment.
Besides the conferences, Block72 has been hosting regular meet-ups under the theme “Blockchain X Industry”. With these meet-ups, we gathered blockchain projects from the areas that are likely to produce actual use cases and are beginning to create tangible changes to discuss industry issues. They allowed meaningful time for general investors to communicate directly with the project, and for projects to share their current status and vision.
Additionally, we have partnered with DoraHacks, one of the largest global hackathon organizers and hacker communities, and hosted hackathons around the world including Berlin, Tokyo, Boston, Seoul and Bangalore. In total, we have conducted more than 30 events including meet-ups and conferences in 2018 and shared knowledge with thousands of industry leaders, developers, projects and investors.
Moving forward
We have briefly reviewed the achievements of GBIC and Block72 in 2018. So what does the future hold for us?
First of all, we will continue to seek for blockchain projects with potential and contribute to their success. As we walk through this bear market, only the ones with strong fundamentals will survive and we will be at their side to provide support financially and strategically.
Also, we unveiled a STO platform Token72 at WDAS2 last December, suggesting a new direction for the industry. Token72 is an STO platform that complies with global regulations and it is scheduled to officially launch in 2019.
We will not cease our various attempts and efforts to leapfrog crypto investment and consulting. The lesson we have learned so far in the blockchain industry, which is changing faster than any other industries, is that quick judgment and execution can only guarantee our future.
