HYPERCOMIC Announces Decentralized IP Ecosystem to Incentivize and Reward Fans Built on zkSync

HYPERCOMIC
HYPERCOMIC
Published in
4 min readJan 29, 2024

Consortium of Korea’s leading webtoons and Netflix production unit bring an $82B global industry to zkSync, revolutionizing how users interact with IP content

HYPERCOMIC, the consortium of Korea’s top 4 webtoon productions and Netflix’s Top 3 Drama Production houses globally, today announced a strategic collaboration with Matter Labs, a software development, engineering, and cryptography company working on and developing software for the zkSync protocol. HYPERCOMIC will leverage zkSync’s blockchain technology to incentivize fans to interact with, support, and grow HYPERCOMIC’s ecosystem IPs.

Webtoons and Webtoon IP Markets are an $82 billion global industry, with nearly 40% of Netflix Originals’ K-dramas being adapted from various webtoons. HYPERCOMIC’s consortium annually puts out over 800 web novels, 60 webtoons, as well as 20 drama and film productions, and plays an integral role in shaping the culture of Korean entertainment. As the first initiative of the collaboration, HYPERCOMIC will create a Decentralized IP Ecosystem, called IP3.0.

IP3.0 will be a decentralized IP ecosystem that better incentivizes fans to grow brands and share rewards, thus providing more opportunities for next-generation IPs to grow on a global scale. The revolutionary platform will be available through the newly launched HYPERCOMIC Play decentralized application (dApp), the Web3.0 Webtoon/Manhwa Reward App, which will be built on zkSync Era. Through the dApp users can earn rewards by playing games as well as reading and engaging with webtoons, which can be swapped for HYCO tokens.

Currently, the ability for IPs to grow their brand is heavily controlled by distributors who focus on promoting what is popular instead of creating a level playing field. This can prevent newer content from receiving the upfront exposure needed for it to gain momentum. IP3.0 solves this by allowing the fans to play an active role in the support and growth of the individual IPs — invest directly in the IP’s production & marketing efforts, dictate the direction of growth, vote on promotional initiatives and IP CC licenses and ownership, and more — all while earning rewards for their efforts.

IP3.0’s reward system fosters high user engagement, and community-driven promotions, while also cultivating emerging projects. This incentivized engagement establishes a growth cycle, where creators release projects, the community is incentivized to interact and learn, while ongoing high engagement fuels continuous project development. IP3.0 offers a novel onboarding approach, bypassing repetitive content cycles showcased by other social platform AIs, and puts the community first. Furthermore, IP3.0 pioneers ownership rights and royalty streams for content on-chain, ensuring transparent and fair revenue distribution for creators.

To commemorate the launch on zkSync, HYPERCOMIC will release a limited series of free NFTs. Starting January 29th, 2024 at 05:00 (UTC), select users are eligible to receive up to 8 commemorative NFTs by engaging with HYPERCOMIC Play. HYPERCOMIC will also launch ‘HYCO Token FCFS Airdrop’ and ‘zkPass NFTs’, which will be available for purchase starting February 2024. The holders of zkPass NFTs are eligible to receive special benefits

Teddy Nam, CEO of HYPERCOMIC

“HYPERCOMIC welcomes the collaboration to overcome real problems of the IP industry. zkSync is a great solution to the scalability and privacy problem that needs to be met for IP industries to consider Web3.0”

Rich Kim, Head of Web3 Entertainment and Media at Matter Labs

“HYPERCOMIC is solving real issues of the IP industry. IP3.0 will create a sustainable cycle of growth for creators in the zkSync ecosystem. By elevating the role of the platform from just showcasing projects to new ways of participation with IPs and their creators, fans are able to explore new projects, and revisit their favorites; while creators receive greater exposure to ecosystemic audiences.”

About HYPERCOMIC

HYPERCOMIC is a combined effort of Korea’s top 4 webtoon productions and Netflix’s Global Top 3 Drama production house (MStoryHub, Red Ice, Ultra Media, Content Lab Blue, and GnG Production) to realize its vision of IP3.0 — a Fan Incentivized IP Growth Ecosystem. It has rolled out the Beta version of the Web3.0 Webtoon Reward App ‘HYPERCOMIC Play’ and is preparing a Webtoon Launchpad where users can participate in IP production and marketing to receive rewards.

About Matter Labs

Founded in 2018, Matter Labs are the inventors and one of the main development teams contributing to zkSync — a Layer-2 protocol that scales Ethereum with cutting-edge ZK tech, not only to merely increase Ethereum’s throughput but to fully preserve its foundational values — freedom, self-sovereignty, decentralization — at scale.

About zkSync

zkSync is cutting-edge zero-knowledge (ZK) technology to scale Ethereum and bring crypto to the mainstream — reaching millions of developers and billions of people in need of a technological solution for achieving progress and prosperity. Deeply rooted in its mission to advance personal freedom for all, the zkSync blockchain network makes digital self-ownership universally available. It is trustless, secure, reliable, censorship-resistant, privacy-preserving, hyperscalable, accessible, and sovereign. To learn more about zkSync, visit www.zksync.io.

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