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Author: Jiyun Kyung, Business Development (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiyunkyung/)
WEPIN Partners Day 2024 Speakers
① Verychat: "The Future of Web3 Mass Adoption Through the History of Computer Popularization"
③ map3protocol: "Web3 based Real-World Map"
④ Metacultures: "Global Mass Adoption through K-Culture Performance"
⑤ BitBlue: "Entertain Transformation; AltTown"
⑥ Socialus: "Building YouTube Investment Ecosystem with Web3 Wallet"
⑦ StudyRich: "StudyRich X WEPIN, Creating WEB3 Learning App"
⑧ Modern Lion: "Driving Blockchain Mass Adoption through NFT"
⑨ WEPIN Wallet: "Growing Together with Partners, Shaping the Future of Web3 Mass Adoption"
[TL;DR]
- Implementing NFT ticketing solutions to prevent scalping, identify genuine fans, and ensure transparent and fair transactions
- Continuously optimizing system performance by addressing gas fee issues and minimizing transaction delays to enhance user experience
- Expanding NFT-based ticketing business through building a secure secondary market and fostering partnerships with more artists
About ModernLion
ModernLion is a joint venture combining Hyundai Card's branding expertise with LIKELION's blockchain technology prowess. Their flagship service, KONKRIT, focuses on seamlessly integrating NFT technology into daily life.
KONKRIT is a platform enabling users to easily and securely purchase and trade various NFT products, including tickets, memberships, and digital goods. Designed with user-centric principles, it features an intuitive interface and streamlined processes, making blockchain technology accessible to users regardless of their technical expertise.
Going beyond digital assets, KONKRIT actively bridges the gap between digital and physical experiences. The platform delivers tangible value by utilizing NFT tickets to combat scalping and enhance fan experiences. By identifying and rewarding dedicated fans with personalized benefits, KONKRIT continues to expand the practical applications of NFTs.
Building Blockchain Mass Adoption Through NFTs
Hello, I am Doo-hee Lee from Modern Lion. It's a pleasure to meet you. Modern Lion is a joint venture established by Like Lion and Hyundai Card. We were founded with the mission of pioneering the Web3 world together. I previously served as the CEO of Like Lion and am now fully focused on Modern Lion.
For a major corporation like Hyundai Card to make a significant entry into the Web3 market, they needed an agile team, and we have taken on that role as market pioneers. With Hyundai Card's support, we are able to respond swiftly when needed while gradually establishing our unique market presence. We have been in operation for approximately two years, and I would like to share with you our achievements thus far and our future objectives.
We started with the goal of transforming the scalping market. Ticket scalping is a serious issue both domestically and internationally. For instance, last year's Bruno Mars concert organized by Hyundai Card was a prime example. While tickets were priced at 100,000 won, they were being resold for multiple times that amount on platforms like Joonggonara and Danggeun Market. The situation became such a significant social issue that there were even posts offering to purchase eight consecutive seats for 200 million won. This problem continues to occur repeatedly at major performances.
The case of Beom-june Jang clearly illustrates the severity of the scalping issue. Believing that scalpers were damaging concert culture, he once cancelled an entire performance after discovering tickets being traded on the secondary market. He later decided not to hold concerts unless there was a fundamental solution to prevent scalping. We personally met with Beom-june Jang multiple times to present our system, and after hearing our explanation, he placed his trust in us. As a result, all of his concert tickets are now being issued as NFTs.
In this way, we are implementing NFT technology to address the scalping problem and gradually expanding this approach.
Next year, we plan to focus more aggressively on eliminating the scalping market. We believe that creating an accurate and transparent database that anyone can verify will significantly reduce scalping issues. Even if scalping attempts occur, immediate blacklisting will be possible.
As those who have experience with NFT or token projects in Web3 know, when suspicious behavior is detected, the community immediately raises concerns. Similarly, if fans can identify suspicious tickets or wallets, this system can serve as a monitoring channel where multiple people can participate in oversight.
There are two types of ticket scalping issues. One involves counterfeit tickets, and the other involves tickets sold at excessively inflated prices. We aim to address both issues by issuing tickets as NFTs and utilizing blockchain technology. While "mass adoption" is a frequently used term in the blockchain industry - almost like a uniform - it seems no team has truly achieved it yet. We have set our sights on realizing genuine mass adoption through this initiative. Currently, tens of thousands of our users are already using blockchain wallets without even realizing it.
Regarding counterfeit tickets, there was a significant incident at the SBS K-POP event held in Yeongjong Island, Incheon last year. Despite being less than a year ago, numerous counterfeit tickets were distributed. The perpetrators sold these fake tickets to unsuspecting buyers, who were subsequently denied entry at the venue. This was particularly devastating for those who had planned to attend with loved ones on special occasions like Christmas.
This issue remains serious. Even with KTX train tickets, which supposedly have anti-counterfeiting features, people frequently share simple screenshots of digital tickets. Some individuals who either couldn't secure tickets or wanted to save money resort to using forged captured images. This demonstrates that both paper and digital tickets continue to face vulnerability issues.
When considering solutions to these challenges, I believe NFTs present the most viable answer. While NFTs may appear as simple image files on the surface, they contain internal contract addresses that make counterfeiting impossible. Converting tickets to this digital format with blockchain technology will effectively address the current problems.
Regarding the issue of excessively priced tickets, the previously mentioned Bruno Mars concert made headlines when someone offered to sell eight consecutive seats for 180 million won, and tickets were trading at extremely high prices. As a League of Legends fan myself, I know how difficult it is to obtain LCK finals tickets. While one might have to resort to paying above retail prices on platforms like Joonggonara or Danggeun Market, the problems don't end there. Fraud is common - for instance, when buying three or four tickets, one might turn out to be fraudulent. This is a serious social issue that we believe can be resolved through NFT technology.
During our meeting with Beom-june Jang, he expressed frustration that people with faster clicking speeds were profiting more than concert staff, which makes no sense. It's concerning that in the 21st century, we haven't been able to solve this market anomaly. We're currently collaborating with the National Police Agency on an anti-scalping project, and as recent news articles show, the social costs are substantial.
This isn't just a Korean problem. I recently gave a presentation in Jakarta two weeks ago and learned about their experience with BLACKPINK's concert. Ticket scalping prices reached astronomical levels. Jakarta, being less digitalized than Korea, lacks proper mechanisms to investigate or prevent scalping, forcing them to tolerate the situation. These issues are recurring globally, particularly around K-pop events. This is why we're pursuing an NFT-based solution to address these challenges.
NFT technology enables us to track several crucial factors. First, we can verify who purchased tickets and how many. We can also track if these tickets were resold, helping us identify genuine audience members versus resellers. Since all transaction prices are recorded, this helps prevent scalpers from artificially inflating prices.
We plan to implement price caps through smart contracts. For example, if a ticket is purchased for 100 won, the resale price would be capped at 200 won. By embedding these conditions in smart contracts, we can fundamentally prevent transactions above the set price range. While we may not be able to prevent every case, such as direct phone exchanges, we can effectively control most reselling activities.
The key to eliminating scalping is tracking bulk purchasers. Scalpers typically buy large quantities of tickets, reduce trading volume, and manipulate prices by selling their holdings at inflated rates. This frequently occurs with K-pop concerts. In Southeast Asia, individuals often create multiple phone accounts for bulk purchases. However, all these transactions can be transparently tracked through Web3 explorers.
We explained this system to Jang Beom-june, who found it to be a trustworthy solution and agreed to collaborate. To date, approximately 30 to 50 concerts have utilized our system, and scalping issues have been significantly reduced. There are still some exceptional cases, such as when people transfer face-verified phones to others. When we observed people retrieving phones after concerts, we realized there might be limitations to what we can prevent - checking SIM cards would be too extreme.
Except for these rare cases, we believe we've successfully prevented most scalping issues. This isn't just our opinion - audiences at Jang Beom-june's concerts have been extremely satisfied because they've experienced a truly scalper-free environment. Many companies have previously claimed "there was no scalping" or "macro purchases were minimal, only a few percent," but do people really believe these statements? Looking at community forums, nobody does. They typically respond, "There they go again - companies have to say that."
However, for Jang Beom-june's mini-concert, we publicly released completely transparent data through the block explorer. We limited purchases to a maximum of four tickets per person, and all transaction records are stored on the blockchain. The top purchase records clearly show that no one bought more than four tickets. If we receive inquiries, we don't need complex customer service responses - we simply send them the contract link. People can verify for themselves and understand there truly was no scalping. This is a key advantage of NFT tickets: instantly resolving confusion that typically arises from customer service interactions and rumors.
Interestingly, we're not the ones tracking the data. For instance, if someone claims they attended the concert on October 27th, others independently check the blockchain records to verify if that person attended on October 25th or 23rd as well. These might be people who couldn't get tickets or are simply skeptical. However, we haven't received any valid complaints through this verification process.
So we always ask: "Would you rather trust someone's word, a company's statement, or data that anyone can verify?" While other companies can publish data, there's no guarantee it hasn't been manipulated. Blockchain, however, is common data simultaneously recorded across numerous computers. We emphasize this point in our messaging.
The key is that our data isn't simply stored on our servers. For example, if we use Polygon, the data is identically stored across all computers maintaining the Polygon network; if we use Ethereum, it's stored across all computers in the Ethereum network. Since this data cannot be manipulated, it provides definitive proof of who purchased how many tickets. For instance, we can conclusively state that "no one purchased more than five tickets."
However, this isn't where it ends. While we initially thought we'd achieved our goals at this point, many unexpected benefits emerged. One significant advantage was being able to identify true fans. For artists like Jang Beom-june, it's been extremely difficult to identify fans who attend multiple performances. Previously, ticket vendors didn't provide such data, so purchase records alone weren't sufficient. While some fans might post verification photos on Instagram or Twitter, not all fans are that active. Many dedicated fans who quietly attend and support shows were often excluded from the data.
This made it impossible for Jang Beom-june to even conduct fair giveaways of personal items like his guitar, as there was no way to identify his most passionate supporters. NFT tickets solve this issue. For instance, the system transparently records and verifies when an NFT holder has "attended nine consecutive concerts." Artists can use this data to distribute additional merchandise or implement special fan management programs.
We believe this approach would have been impossible without NFTs. Other systems don't allow artists to independently identify their fans. Requesting data about "10-time consecutive attendees" from ticket vendors would be both awkward as a customer service request and practically unfeasible. With NFTs, artists can directly verify data and implement various ideas like exclusive events or intimate concerts for true fans. We're confident that NFTs are the key to making all this possible.
Currently, rather than hastily pursuing other artists, we're focusing on exploring the full potential of NFT tickets with Jang Beom-june. We plan to begin sales efforts only after perfecting the entire flow. We're seeing this through with Jang Beom-june first, as expanding to other artists before properly packaging these benefits could create confusion.
Looking at other artists, we've noticed various methods of giving fan club members priority ticket access. Some artists compile Excel sheets with fan club members' phone numbers and names to send to ticket vendors. While they request setting up priority access for specific fans this way, in blockchain, writing a whitelist code takes less than ten lines.
For example, we can set logic like "only those holding 10 or more Jang Beom-june NFTs can purchase tickets in this round." And everyone can trust these results. We actually received requests to "share the code" last year or the year before, due to skepticism. We simply opened our Solidity code, which resolved all issues and eliminated even the minimal doubts that existed.
Another interesting point is that artists often have close relationships with each other. They frequently discuss performing together or giving priority access to fans who attended other concerts, and blockchain can facilitate these arrangements. For those familiar with Solidity or smart contracts, this opens up a realm of possibilities. We're expanding our potential in these directions.
While token airdrops have been a major focus in Web3, we're aiming to advance beyond this by utilizing Web3 data for new types of airdrops. For instance, we could offer benefits like gift certificates to people who attended both Jang Beom-june's and IU's concerts. We believe NFTs can make this world possible. While many people might still find NFTs unfamiliar or of limited use, we're gradually creating practical use cases.
That's why we see no reason not to use NFTs. We're continuously working toward pushing the boundaries of what's possible with ticket systems using NFTs. As mentioned in the presentation earlier, seamless experience is crucial because we're targeting mass adoption, including people who may not understand blockchain or Web3. When selling tickets to this audience, the process cannot be difficult or complicated.
We initially used the Polygon chain but discontinued it partly due to gas fee issues. On Polygon, users had to pay gas fees themselves, which required purchasing MATIC tokens from exchanges and adding them to their wallets for ticket transfers. For example, if someone bought four tickets and wanted to send one to a friend, they needed to buy MATIC from an exchange and prepare it for gas fees.
However, due to various legal interpretations and the possibility of being classified as a virtual asset service provider, we've adopted a policy of "avoiding risky initiatives when possible." Therefore, we don't provide MATIC to users or purchase it on their behalf. This burden being passed to users made things too complicated, even after purchasing tickets.
To address these issues, we're migrating to different chains and continuously testing and improving. In this process, we're making numerous development requests to WEPIN, perhaps becoming somewhat of a nuisance with our constant "please implement this and that" requests.
However, we have an important goal that justifies these efforts: ensuring that people with no understanding of Web3 can use NFT-based tickets without any inconvenience. We still have some way to go to achieve this goal.
For instance, besides the gas fee issue, there's the matter of automatic NFT airdrops to wallets after ticket purchase. On Polygon, this process takes 3-4 seconds at best and 2-3 minutes at worst. Even during this brief period, users become confused, wondering "I completed the payment, why can't I see my ticket?" and immediately call customer service. To improve this, we're constantly optimizing our systems to reduce delays and implementing buffer NFT systems.
Our core objective is to perfect the ticket business while providing a seamless experience. Ultimately, I hope to create an environment where even I can purchase tickets for LCK finals through a reasonable secondary market instead of using Joonggonara. Next year, we plan to expand this system through collaborations with more artists. That concludes my presentation.
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