This article is an English translation of the BlockStar interview with ICONLOOP CEO Kim Jonghyup published by Hyunah Jang.
All rights to the information below belongs to Block Star with only translations provided by ICON P-Rep team ICON DAO.
Founded in May 2016, ICONLOOP is a leading blockchain company in South Korea that provides blockchain platforms and services, and leads in technological innovation. Based on its self-developed high-performance blockchain engine ‘loopchain’, ICONLOOP is building use cases for blockchain innovation in various industries. The company is currently providing numerous technologies and solutions to Seoul City, National Election Commission, Korea Financial Investment Authority, AWS Partner Network and Kyobo Life Insurance.
ICONLOOP is continuing its efforts to popularize blockchain through its proprietary DID-based technology services: MyID, DPASS and Broof. Moreover, ICONLOOP is preparing to play a major role in the building of a more convenient, transparent and reliable society.
We met with Kim Jonghyup, CEO of ICONLOOP, Korea’s leading blockchain company, and listened to his story and future vision.
[The launch of the DID alliance marks a new beginning.]
ICONLOOP launched a DID alliance last year for the first time in Korea and is actively entering into the blockchain-based identity authentication service industry.
Kim began, “When we first did DID, it was not as much of a hot issue, but in my assessment, last year was the year that DID really set the stage for going into the legal system. And the year the ICON project, which we had supported, had become decentralized and established itself as a network ran by the community”.
Last year, three DID alliances were launched. The “MyID Alliance,” led by ICONLOOP and based on MyID, had been selected to be included in the Financial Regulatory Sandbox from the Financial Services Commission. At that time it was only applied to identification under the Banking Law, but now the scope has been expanded further to include the identification of customers under the Electronic Finance Act and the Special Act.
“We are focusing on the legal use of DIDs, and we are preparing for more utility in the financial sector, which is considered the most tightly regulated area,” Kim explained. “As for the DID Alliance led by SK Telecom, it is not in the Financial Regulatory Sandbox, so it seems that they are focusing mainly on the less regulated certification area.
In addition, the alliance led by RaonSecure seems to focus on login or electronic signature based on the Robo-Advisor field. We each have DID technology, but there seems to be a difference in the areas we are trying to apply them,” he said, stressing how MyID differentiates itself from the other DIDs.
[Broof, DPASS, VisitMe… Services Integrated with MyID]
ICONLOOP’s blockchain platform is based on DID. The featured services include identification service “DPASS,” blockchain certificate issuance service “Broof” and visitor identification service “VisitMe,” which will be integrated into MyID. MyID will be officially released in the first half of this year.
In the case of DPASS, rather than a beta version to check how the DID works on an actual blockchain, it is a platform that is intended to be used inside an actual company. It is to be used for technology development with the characteristics of an MVP.
“When using DID technology, keeping personal data only on the device can cause difficulties in managing data and maintenance. To solve this problem, a technology called Vault (distributed storage) can be inserted into DPASS. You can think of DPASS as a platform built to check out key technologies,” he explained.
Also, “Broof is a certificate-issuing service that can bring out the key features of blockchain. It supports the issuance of forgery-proof certificates and permanent storage on a blockchain network. Certificate issuers do not need to establish a separate database system, they can reduce the cost of issuing and storing paper documents, and applicants can simply obtain and inquire blockchain certificates anytime, anywhere. Even if the company is gone, the certificate of employment once issued is recorded in the blockchain, so you can prove it at any time”.
The recently announced VisitMe is a blockchain-based visitor identification service. Since there are still many companies that use paper guest books, there is a huge waste of paper and manpower, VisitMe was created to improve this process. The identity of the person is already authenticated when they receive the invitation, this reduces unnecessary waste of resources, and everything is recorded on the blockchain and stored,” Kim said.
MyID, which is set to be officially released in the first half of this year, will integrate all of these services. The development has already been completed, but the launch is being delayed due to the problem of linkage with each financial service or affiliated institution.
“Each financial service has a schedule, so it’s only a little delayed. Work is going smoothly, and it will be officially released by June,” Kim Jonghyup explained.
“In case of MyID, which will be officially released soon, it can be used in various ways,” Kim further explained. “Currently, overseas cryptocurrency exchanges are the most interested. Since the Special Act is passed, then enhanced identification for its domestic operations should be provided.
In other words, when using KYC, there are many exchanges that ask for easy authentication through digital identification certificates issued by Korean financial institutions. So it starts with identification through KYC, but now we are discussing customer identification for under the Special Act later,” he said, referring to various ways MyID may be used in the future.
[Data 3 Act and Special Act, Impact on Blockchain Enterprises and Direction of Subregulations]
After many twists and turns, the controversial Special Act was passed by the National Assembly. It will be formally applied from September next year, with subregulations to be enacted.
Kim said, “The Financial Services Commission is reviewing it, but I think there should be regulations on the level of financial institutions. Starting with real-name transactions, I believe that if an entity has the right to control an asset, it should be included in the regulatory list. Among the FATF recommendations, it is important that the identity is verified in the transaction of virtual assets.
Also, in reference to the Data 3 Act (a personal data protection law) which was passed before the Special Act, Kim Jonghyup gave some context, “It seems that service providers are too geared towards use of personal information. The enforcement decree has yet to be issued, but it is expected to be centered on regulations to prevent (unauthorized) use of personal information. Personally, I hope this will be taken one step further and that a user-centered statute in the form of an individual controlling his or her information will also be enacted,” he said.
“If you look now, I think the characteristics of both the Data 3 Act and ISMS are too focused on the operators who process the data. DID, and of course MyID, seeks to focus on the original owners of data. Currently, the service provider holds personal information, so there are only regulations created for the provider. It would be better that required personal information and the actual services be separated or used in combination only during service.”
Meanwhile, Kim said the Special Act, which was passed, would have a good effect on the blockchain industry and virtual asset exchanges.
“We can think that the Special Act is central to the large exchange, but I think small and medium-sized exchanges are possibly affected. So far, we haven’t been able to trust the identification issued by exchanges, but I think we can now use MyID which has been authorized by Financial Services Commission, to authenticate the KYC, to improve the approach. There are high levels of identification that can be performed without having to do a bank account-based identification. I think it would be a good area to apply MyID,” he said.
The Special Act has been passed, but the Blockchain Promotion Act is still pending in the National Assembly, and will soon be discarded upon the end of the parliamentary term. It will most likely be discussed again in the next National Assembly.
Kim said, “Some criticize regulations related to virtual assets, but I think regulations are okay. Unfortunately, even though it is inconvenient by restricting areas, I think we should at least proceed with regulations that are practical and based on reality. In that regard, I hope that relevant regulations will be passed and set soon in the next National Assembly.”
[What will be the impact of the Doctor’s Room case(박사방) on blockchain and the cryptocurrency market?]
There have been many concerns that the case of Nth Room, which has caused a public outcry, will adversely affect the blockchain and the cryptocurrency market. Kim, however, says the incident could rather mature the industry and allow it to grow further.
He said, “If it was a cash transaction, it could not have been tracked. But I think they were caught through cryptocurrency. In other words, the cryptocurrency itself is very transparent. Of course, there are some cryptocurrencies that are as anonymous as DarkCoins, but they can be tracked if the service providers handling those virtual assets only trade with clearly identified people. Under the Special Act, I think this will be important in boosting the trading of more virtual assets,” he said.
Also, he deduced, “I think this will be a good opportunity for the industry to grow further. The exchanges recognized that KYC clearly plays a part under the Special Act, and users were also able to correct their misconception that using encrypted money would not allow them to be tracked down.”
[ICONLOOP, what are your goals and visions for this year?]
ICONLOOP is currently operating its business with the goal of issuing more than 1 million IDs at the same time as the release of MyID this year. With an existing user base, it won’t be very hard to do. This year’s target revenue is 20 billion won (approximately $16 million USD),” Kim said.
“Currently, due to Coronavirus (COVID-19), there are many public sector investments to revive the economy, but for the private sector, the market has suffered a significant decline. Still, we will try to achieve our goals,” he said, adding that they are trying to focus on the enterprise sector.
“If last year was mainly about pilot projects, this year we will move on to real business. We confirmed the Ministry of Science and Technology’s stance on this topic, and starting this year, we are earnestly considering B2B and enterprise business with a long-term plan”.
[Wrapping up the interview…]
Kim, who said his most memorable moments were when he first started his business, created his own blockchain and launched Korea Financial Investment Association blockchain project, also gave advice about startups.
He said, “We have to do what we can to fit into the regulatory area and look and prepare whenever the system evolves. There should be a strategy to make models and challenge them, but also to survive. We need the spirit of the startup. Don’t be afraid of regulations, if you set survival strategies and pursue a project with a spirit that embraces challenges, you will see good results”.
Wrapping up the interview, Kim said, “I want to talk about data ownership. If you are ignorant of data ownership, you will be dominated by people who own data. I believe we should all be managers of our own data. I hope that the importance of data ownership will be realized by users and there will be a data liberation movement. I hope to open an era where big companies like Google and Naver do not have complete data monopoly,” he said, referring to a decentralized world.
With the official launch of MyID service, ICONLOOP’s next move is anticipated.
Source: http://blockstar.co.kr/archives/2925
Interviewee: ICONLOOP CEO Kim Jonghyup
Interviewer/Author: Hyunah Jang
Translations: P-Rep ICON DAO
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