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| Wemade CEO Chang Hyun-guk speaks during an online press conference, Tuesday. Yonhap |
By Lee Min-hyung
Wemade has reiterated its willingness to issue its own stablecoin despite increasing negative sentiment in the global cryptocurrency industry following the sudden collapse of once-prominent Terra and Luna coins.
Chang Hyun-guk, CEO of the local games publisher, shared Tuesday the company's vision to push ahead with its earlier plan to launch the tentatively-named WEMIX Dollar next month.
"Wemade's stablecoin was designed to guarantee the stability of game tokens," he said during an online press conference.
He also underlined that its stablecoin is different from Terra and Luna, as it represents what he called an "inter-game economy" under which the stablecoin will be used to trade game coins and non-fungible tokens.
"Wemade is a listed firm and has operated a blockchain business for the past four years, during which period, we have set up tight internal control systems," Chang said. The company has also had to receive audits regularly and abided by tight internal rules, which is the biggest difference from other cryptocurrency projects pushed by unlisted firms, according to Chang.
However, concerns remain over whether the company can guarantee the price stability of its own stablecoin when considering the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, which was considered mainstream in the crypto industry until just recently.
The valuation of the ill-fated Terra stablecoin and its sister token, Luna, came to nothing in about a week in mid-May. Few had expected the sudden demise of the two cryptocurrencies. Luna's market capitalization was once the world's sixth-largest, but then plunged to near zero.
Industry watchers said the company should not be in a rush to launch the stablecoin, stressing that it is better for any company to take a wait-and-see approach for the time being before aggressively expanding their crypto drive.
"After the Luna fiasco, government authorities are closely monitoring cryptocurrency developers and exchange operators," an industry source said.
"Any hasty push for the project may leave a negative impression on the regulators at a critical time when financial authorities are still dealing with the aftermath of the Luna collapse."
