[Featured Stock] NVT, Is Direct Service of Second Seoul Actually an Opportunity?... Metaverse Platform Level-Up

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] NBT is showing strong performance. As the beta service of the metaverse real estate trading platform 'Second Seoul' has ended, expectations have rather increased, seemingly impacting the stock price.

As of 12:06 PM on the 2nd, NBT is trading at 34,950 KRW, up 21.99% compared to the previous trading day.

After hitting the upper limit price on December 30 last year, the stock gave back some of its gains following the news of the end of the Second Seoul beta service. Although the service was a huge success, far exceeding expectations to the point where the server became unstable, there were suspicions about potential issues in commercialization after deciding to end the beta service. However, with NBT directly taking over the service, expectations are spreading that the business value could grow even more.

Founded in 2012, NBT is a mobile point advertising platform company. It launched the world's first smartphone lock screen point system, 'Cash Slide,' and currently has approximately 27 million cumulative members. Its enterprise business, Addison Offerwall, is a point network platform that systematizes and operates free point charging infrastructure for partner service media.

On the 30th of last month, NBT announced, "Despite the short period, thanks to the tremendous interest shown, we have decided to commercialize 'Second Seoul' and changed the service provider of Second Seoul to 'NBT' for the purpose of developing a more stable and advanced service."

Second Seoul was developed by NCT Marketing, a 100% subsidiary of NBT. Second Seoul is a metaverse platform that divides the actual Seoul area into tens of thousands of tiles and allows buying and selling in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It gained attention last month through a pre-subscription event. The company added that after the beta service launch of 'Second Seoul' on the 29th of last month, some issues arose regarding payment and security process stability, and ultimately, it was judged that maintaining continuous service at the current level would be difficult.

In fact, if the tile price is maintained at 10,000 KRW in the main service, NBT can secure a total of 69.4 billion KRW. If the price is raised, additional amounts can be secured accordingly. In the case of Earth2, which trades real estate worldwide, the initial service price per tile was about $0.1, but recently, tiles are traded at around $53 in the U.S. and $14 in Korea.

Lee Sangheon, a researcher at Hi Investment & Securities, explained, "Second Seoul is a metaverse real estate platform that divides the actual Seoul area into tens of thousands of tiles and allows ownership," adding, "after the consumer platform service starts, it will provide information on what consumers have consumed within Seoul and reward them with 'Second Seoul' native currency."

He continued, "This is the stage where the economic system concept, a key core of metaverse platforms, is introduced," emphasizing, "a targeted advertising platform will open on the small business platform."

He said, "The Second Seoul project is not simply a virtual Seoul implemented in the metaverse but aims to be a platform connecting Seoul citizens and small business owners living in the actual Seoul," adding, "growth potential as a metaverse platform, such as customer attraction effects, will become visible."