Song Chi-hyung, Chairman of Dunamu, "The End of This Winter Is a Completely New Phase"

Upbit Developer Conference (UDC) Opens on the 22nd
"A World Where Wallets Are More Familiar Than SNS and Messengers May Come"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] "I don't know how long this winter will last, but I expect the end of this winter to be a completely new phase unlike anything before."

Song Chi-hyung, chairman of Dunamu, said this in his opening remarks at the ‘2022 UDC,’ Upbit Developer Conference held on the 22nd at the Busan Port International Exhibition & Convention Center (BPEX). Now in its fifth year, UDC is a place to look back on the changes in daily life led by blockchain and to share a blueprint for the future among blockchain developers.

Chairman Song said, "This downturn is often described as a ‘crypto winter,’" adding, "When we first started UDC in September 2018, we had similar concerns." The virtual asset market, which peaked last year, plummeted sharply after this year's Luna incident, freezing investor sentiment. Just before Dunamu first held UDC in 2018, the virtual market surged, but distrust in virtual assets grew due to the so-called ‘Park Sang-gi Rebellion,’ which the government labeled as speculation, leading to annual developer conferences.

Chairman Song said, "Ultimately, the driving force that overcame the long slump of over three years was the actual functioning products and services that appeared in each field such as DeFi (decentralized finance), NFTs (non-fungible tokens), and P2E (Play to Earn) games," adding, "There were various necessary conditions, but only verification through products was the sufficient condition to end the long winter and surpass previous highs."

He said, "The mountain we must overcome to get through the winter that returned in 2022 is also verification through blockchain products and services," and evaluated, "Fortunately, as the goals have risen, the blockchain service environment has become incomparably better than in 2018." He emphasized that the successful completion of the Ethereum Merge and the expansion of NFTs demonstrated blockchain’s potential.

Chairman Song said, "The interoperability and composability of blockchain will present new directions for the global content market and creator economy created by massive online video services (OTT) and social media (SNS)," adding, "Perhaps we will welcome a ‘blockchain generation’ that is more familiar with wallets than SNS or messengers and manages their identity through tokens as part of daily life."

At the event, lectures and panel discussions on blockchain technologies such as Layer 2, smart contracts, Web 3.0, security, and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) were held, and on the second day, the 23rd, lectures on NFTs, metaverse, gaming, and travel rules will be conducted.

During the event, side events such as an NFT gallery, corporate exhibitions, and networking dinners will also take place. At the NFT gallery set up in the 5th-floor lobby, visitors can appreciate NFT works by versatile creator Gu Jun-yeop, EBS director Han-gyeol who produced ‘Pengsoo,’ and fine art master Kim Nam-pyo.