Hybe Co, the agency managing K-Pop sensation BTS, will team up with South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency operator to build a joint venture related to non-fungible tokens.
The agreement involves Hybe buying a 2.5% stake in Dunamu, which runs the Upbit crypto exchange, for 500 billion won ($570 million). Separately, Hybe will issue 700 billion won of new shares to Dunamu, the company disclosed in regulatory filings Thursday.
NFTs have soared in popularity in recent months, with caricatures of monkeys and lions commanding prices that scale up into the millions of dollars and sports clubs and prestige automakers are among those getting into the business.
BTS would be one of the biggest brands to join in the nascent trading business, which is based on blockchain technology to authenticate unique ownership tokens attached to otherwise easily reproducible digital goods. Music, photography and digital art are among the popularly traded genres of NFT.
Upbit is one of the four Korean exchanges that are allowed to offer won-based trading services as well as crypto-to-crypto trading services after a regulatory clampdown in September.
The country’s cryptocurrency market is dominated by the four biggest exchanges and Upbit accounted for about 88% of trading volume in the country as of Sept, according to data from ruling party lawmaker Noh Woong-rae.
