South Korean telecommunications giant SK Telecom has joined forces with blockchain firm Aptos on its ongoing project with Atomrigs Lab to develop a web3 wallet service. The company announced this development in an official statement via a LinkedIn post on November 7, 2023.
SK Telecom, in a bid to expand its web3 services to a wider audience, will leverage Aptos’s MoveVM blockchain technology to enhance the functionality and utility of the wallet service. In addition to this, the partnership will introduce users to the dynamic dApp ecosystem embedded within the Aptos Network.
In the announcement, the telecom company emphasized its commitment to delivering a seamless and secure web3 experience for its users. It noted that the collaboration with Aptos is its first non-Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchain integration.
SK Telecom described its collaboration with Aptos as “a strategic move,” emphasizing its dedication to affiliating with “customer-preferred mainnets and dApps.”
Notably, in August 2023, SK Telecom entered a strategic partnership with Layer 2 blockchain network, Polygon, to accelerate the expansion of its web3 ecosystem and nurture promising web3 startups in South Korea. The company announced then that it would integrate its newly launched NFT marketplace, TopPort, and its web3 wallet services with the Polygon network.
SK Telecom began developing its web3 wallet service in July 2022. At the time, its blockchain subsidiary AhnLab Blockchain Company announced a partnership with Atomrigs Lab to provide the technical underpinnings of a web3 wallet service that allows users to store, send, and receive digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
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Meanwhile, South Korea might be experiencing a surge in digital asset transactions. According to the South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC), the country’s digital asset market saw substantial growth in the first half of 2023, reaching a market value of $21.1 billion. Furthermore, deposits within digital currency exchanges surged by 11%, totalling approximately $3 billion. This signals a noteworthy trend of increasing digital asset adoption within South Korea.
The partnership expanded into institutional finance
In April 2024, SK Telecom joined Aptos Labs, Brevan Howard and Microsoft to develop Aptos Ascend, an institutional-focused blockchain infrastructure platform. The project combines SK Telecom’s Wallet-as-a-Service technology with Aptos’ blockchain and Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure to provide regulated financial institutions with tools for digital assets and on-chain finance.
Aptos Ascend was designed to support institutional applications including tokenized assets, decentralized finance and lending while incorporating controls for KYC, AML, transaction permissions, privacy and regulatory requirements.
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