GalaxiaMoney Advances into NFT Market through Subsidiary... Launching Second Leap

This year, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are gaining attention in the virtual asset market. In March, the NFT digital photo artwork "Everyday" by American digital artist Beeple was auctioned for approximately $69.34 million (about 78.4 billion KRW). NFTs assign unique values to digital content using blockchain technology. Experts expect NFTs to play a vital role in economic activities within virtual reality, known as the metaverse. This is why the growth potential of NFTs is highly valued. Not only paintings, videos, and literary works but also rare game items, limited edition products, and collectibles can be made into non-reproducible digital originals. In July, the Kansong Art Museum overcame financial difficulties by creating and selling 100 NFTs of the national treasure "Hunminjeongeum Haerye." The NFTs of Hunminjeongeum Haerye, priced at 100 million KRW each, sold better than expected. In Korea, NFTs are being introduced in gaming and entertainment sectors. Asia Economy examines the business structure, growth potential, and new business developments of Gamevil and Galaxia Moneytree, which are promoting new NFT-related businesses.

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Galaxia Moneytree has taken a second leap forward by actively entering the non-fungible token (NFT) business through its subsidiary Galaxia Metaverse.

Galaxia Moneytree is a subsidiary of the Hyosung Group, established in 1994. Chairman Cho Hyun-joon of Hyosung Group is the largest shareholder with a 32.98% stake, followed by Hyosung ITX holding 16.78%. The company primarily operates integrated electronic payment services centered on mobile micropayments and credit card payments, as well as prepaid payments and convenience store payments through convenience store infrastructure, and online-to-offline (O2O) businesses for issuing and managing mobile department store gift certificates and coupons. It was listed on the KOSDAQ market in July 2007.

In 2017, it launched "Moneytree," a simple payment platform that allows users to exchange various points and gift certificates for cash, enabling ATM withdrawals, remittances, easy payments both online and offline, and giro bill payments. Recently, the number of users surpassed 2.5 million. Additionally, it launched Korea's first Bitcoin-dedicated prepaid card, "OK BitCard," and provided Bitcoin cash withdrawal services through ATMs. In April, it enabled payments with Bitcoin at convenience stores and other outlets.

Performance has been sluggish in recent years. Revenue was 81.4 billion KRW in 2018, 85.6 billion KRW in 2019, and 81.2 billion KRW last year. Operating profit was 7.5 billion KRW in 2018, 8.7 billion KRW in 2019, and 7.7 billion KRW last year.

In the first half of this year, it achieved revenue of 48.3 billion KRW and operating profit of 2.4 billion KRW. First-half revenue increased by 17.1% compared to the same period last year, but operating profit decreased by 49.5%. The decline in operating profit was due to increased selling and administrative expenses from promotions for credit card sales and the transfer and promotion of Moneytree's virtual assets. By business division, electronic payment accounts for 65.2% of the total, O2O for 29.7%, and the remainder, 5.1%, comes from Moneytree and others.

The existing business is understood to be progressing without major issues, as the use of credit cards and other payment methods remains steady domestically. A company official said, "Overseas business has been delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, but we plan to proceed in the mid to long term. The existing business is stable with increasing O2O and credit card usage."

Galaxia Moneytree has recently attracted attention because of its NFT business. In May, it established Galaxia Metaverse, a 100% subsidiary specializing in blockchain. The business started by receiving the virtual asset "Toll (XTL)" of the comprehensive lifestyle finance platform "Moneytree."

Subsequently, it secured sports-related intellectual property rights (IP) by signing agreements with the Korea Volleyball Association, Korea Canoe Federation, and Korea Triathlon Federation in cooperation with the sports marketing company Galaxia SM. Through this, it secured the largest number of IPs among domestic NFT-related services in sports. In the art field, it signed agreements with Hakgojae Gallery and other artists in photography, characters and illustrations, and Oriental painting. The number of partners has increased from an initial 15 to about 30 currently.

Notably, on the 1st of this month, it opened the curation-based NFT platform "Meta Galaxia." Various contents are introduced as NFTs every Tuesday and Friday. The company earns commissions by selling and distributing high-demand assets such as digital art and exclusive content from celebrities and sports players as NFTs.

The initial results are encouraging. The NFT artwork of volleyball player Kim Yeon-kyung, launched simultaneously with the platform opening, sold out completely. The NFT artwork "Something New" by artist Park Seung-woo, featuring Kim Yeon-kyung, was issued in a fixed-price sale of 50 pieces. Additionally, all three works released by artist Choi Jeong-hyun were sold.

Galaxia Metaverse plans to further expand its NFT business. It is currently discussing tokenizing memberships for hotels, golf courses, and resorts as NFTs. A company official emphasized, "We are preparing a system where memberships are issued as NFTs and members can trade them with each other. We are targeting the year-end peak season and are currently preparing for it."

Along with this, the company aims to expand its business areas further. The official said, "We will secure IPs in various fields to differentiate ourselves from other NFT platforms. Starting with NFTs, we will explore new models linked to the metaverse, including launching security tokens (STO) and providing DeFi services."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.