Israeli Blockchain Startup Orbs Opens South Korea Office; Partners with Kakao Subsidiary Ground X

The two teams will collaborate on several fronts. They plan to research and build shared components including cryptographic libraries, conduct mutual security audits, and develop autonomous swaps, a feature that would let different crypto assets move between blockchains without intermediaries. They will publish joint research papers and review each other's code for their core development work.

Kakao operates South Korea's dominant messaging app, KakaoTalk, and invested in Dunamu, the company behind the Upbit exchange. The conglomerate launched Ground X in Tokyo in March 2018 to develop blockchain infrastructure for enterprises. Ground X has been hunting for partners to test and refine blockchain solutions before rolling them out more broadly. The unit has also been working on ways to raise capital through private offerings.

Uriel Peled, a co-founder of Orbs, commented on the company's entry into South Korea: "With leading conglomerates such as Kakao entering the space, South Korea is currently leading the pack when it comes to innovation and development in the blockchain space and has the potential to become the 'blockchain nation.'"

Jason Han, who runs Ground X, said the partnership with Orbs was part of the company's plan to form the "Blockchain Tech Alliance," connecting local and international blockchain companies and institutions. "Ground X is planning to collaborate with other outstanding local and global blockchain tech companies and institutions to develop a high-end blockchain platform and to create a sound blockchain ecosystem," he said. "We will not only be covering technologies of blockchain platforms, but also building a collaborative network covering diverse areas including security and dApps technologies."