[Asia Exclusive] "Never Had Doubts About Cryptocurrency, WEMIX Will Handle the Largest Economy"

Straightforward Asia Exclusive - Jang Hyun-guk, CEO of Wemade

"My life mentor who made me who I am, Jeongju hyung
We had a couples dinner planned a month and a half ago..."
The dream of two people from 30 years ago to earn more foreign currency than the world's top company is still ongoing

Many debates about WEMIX's value
But it became an opportunity for employees to have a clear vision
For Wemade to succeed, WEMIX must succeed

Focusing on cryptocurrency platform and finance after games
Extensive regulatory sandbox

Jang Hyun-guk, CEO of Wemade, is giving an interview at Wemade headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province on the 3rd. / Seongnam = Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

"It was about a month and a half ago. I was on the phone with my hyung, Jeongju (the late Kim Jeongju, Director of NXC), and we even promised to have a meal together with our spouses after I returned from introducing ‘Wemix’ (Wemade’s cryptocurrency platform) at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in the U.S. this month."

On the afternoon of the 3rd, at Wemade’s headquarters in Pangyo, CEO Jang Hyun-guk described the late Director Kim Jeongju as "the life mentor who made me who I am today." After Jang’s words about being unable to do anything for several days due to the shock, a brief silence followed. Although called a ‘reclusive executive,’ many juniors in the gaming industry remember ‘Jeongju hyung.’ The generation has changed, but now they are standing out in the global market with more advanced technology and brilliant ideas. This is why the ecosystem created by a single innovator is important.

Their relationship dates back to 1996. When Jang was still a student, Director Kim, his senior, asked him to "help with making a homepage," and Jang started working part-time at Nexon.

Although the gaming business had just started, Nexon’s expensive server costs were greater than the business itself, so for several years after its founding, they lived by creating websites for companies and government agencies while nurturing their dreams. What was supposed to be a short-term part-time job lasted nearly a year and a half. Jang recalled, "Hyung Jeongju and I spent whole days preparing company sales and presentations, barely going to school or home, but it was so fun that we didn’t notice the time passing. We dreamed of making the world’s best gaming company, earning more foreign currency than electronics or automobile companies, beyond Korea."

Even after 30 years, their dream continues. Jang will leave for the U.S. at the end of this month to make Wemix a cryptocurrency platform used by all global gaming companies. He said, "Wemade has never doubted the cryptocurrency market. We clearly know what we are doing now. Wemix will be the cryptocurrency that handles the largest economy in the future."

- Cryptocurrency prices have been volatile since the Russia-Ukraine war.

△ The war broke out while the effects of COVID-19 had not ended, causing a decline across asset markets. Wemade’s stock price fell particularly sharply because the growth stock nature of the gaming industry and the growth asset nature of virtual assets combined to amplify the fluctuations. However, Wemade is confident in virtual assets. This is not a problem for us.

It is an era of fundamentals where investments are made based on a company’s potential and value. Even excluding Wemix liquidity, we had good results last quarter, with not only new game launches but also strong financial performance. Despite the 2018 Bitcoin decline, we believed and did not give up, going all-in on cryptocurrency. Although future environment predictions are difficult, we believe it will ultimately work to our advantage.

- You faced difficulties last year, including controversy over large-scale Wemix sales.

△ The past two months were quite turbulent externally, but through active explanations, many suspicions have been resolved. There was much debate about Wemix’s value, but it became an opportunity for Wemade employees to have a clear future vision. There is still much to do to increase asset value, such as burning Wemix tokens, but everyone agrees that the best way to increase value is to make global gaming companies use Wemix. Knowing what you are doing is a very good situation. The biggest risk factor is execution power, but if we overcome challenges and do not give up, I am confident we will achieve it someday.

- Is Wemade a gaming company or a cryptocurrency company?

△ Some seem to separate Wemix and Wemade. Some may have invested only in Wemix or only in Wemade. But they are one entity. Wemade’s greatest asset is Wemix. The main cash flow comes from Wemix, and when Wemix’s price rises, cash flow also increases. For Wemade to succeed, Wemix must succeed, and vice versa. The economic scale managed by Wemix will determine Wemix’s value. Today’s economy is based on cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and DeFi financial economy based on these. As financial services traded on the platform expand, Wemix’s price will rise, and Wemade’s value will increase.

The gaming market circulates about 50,000 games annually. If 50,000 games choose the Wemix platform, the economic scale will be beyond imagination. When combined with DeFi, it returns to a financial level, and I believe Wemix will be the cryptocurrency covering the largest economy.

- What are your future business plans?

△ In January, we launched Kleva, the world’s first decentralized finance (DeFi) service under the listed company Wemade’s name. Many DeFi services are anonymous, but finance ultimately requires trust and accountability, so anonymous services cannot become mainstream. Kleva has surpassed 600 billion KRW in deposits, and we plan to grow it as one pillar. Wemade will operate on three pillars: game production, blockchain operation, and DeFi-based finance.

Regarding Kleva, there were initial mistakes, and we are currently thoroughly reviewing the shortcomings. There is a farming service where users deposit and borrow money to invest, which we plan to launch this month. If everything goes as planned, Wemade’s three core business areas?game business, cryptocurrency platform, and cryptocurrency finance?will be complete.

- You mentioned focusing on expanding the Wemix platform ecosystem.

△ I will attend GDC in the U.S. at the end of this month. North American developers are very negative about ‘P2E (play-to-earn)’ because games marketed as P2E often have poor gameplay. Developers cannot make such games. But Wemade’s MIR4 was different. It is not P2E where you play games to earn money, but ‘P&E’ (play and earn), emphasizing that adding earning elements to games makes them more enjoyable. Western countries still lack this understanding, so I plan to go to the conference to explain and persuade directly.

Good game companies lack cryptocurrency solutions. Since we have created one, we plan to persuade good games to connect to the cryptocurrency platform. It will be an opportunity to work with excellent developers from the West. Besides this, I will attend G-Star in Korea, as well as events in Europe and Japan, to emphasize P&E throughout the year. We said we would onboard 100 games on the Wemix platform this year, and over 80 of them will be external games.

- What are your thoughts on government regulations on blockchain platforms?

△ Blockchain platforms and DeFi are in an early market stage where everything must be developed with imagination. If we try to fit into existing frameworks, we may be crippled and unable to do anything. Regulations should be minimized, but a new regulatory framework should be created where companies receiving benefits bear maximum responsibility. I think a broad regulatory sandbox should be set up, where the government strongly holds businesses accountable for investor protection but allows freedom in how to achieve it.

Biography of Wemade CEO Jang Hyun-guk

▲ Born in 1974 ▲ Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Seoul National University ▲ Master’s in Management Engineering from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) ▲ Joined Nexon in 1996 ▲ Head of Finance Group, Strategy Planning at Neowiz Games in 2000 ▲ Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Neowiz Games in 2008 ▲ CEO of Neowiz Mobile in 2011 ▲ Head of Strategy Planning at Wemade in 2013 ▲ CEO of Wemade in 2014 ▲ Co-CEO of Wemade Max in 2020

Interview by Myung Jin-gyu, Head of IT Science Department

Compiled by Reporter Lee Seung-jin