Naver Partners with Chiliz to Launch Its First-Ever Crypto Wallet

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Naver Partners with Chiliz to Launch Its First-Ever Crypto Wallet

South Korean tech giant Naver has tapped sports-focused layer 1 blockchain Chiliz to launch its first-ever crypto wallet dubbed the Naver Pay Wallet. The partnership was announced via an X post by Chiliz, a blockchain that has gained recognition for its support of fan tokens.

About the new collaboration, Chiliz shared that Naver has seen it as a worthy partner in its quest to expand its digital offerings to its user base. Thus making it the inaugural blockchain for the wallet, which has now been made available to over 33 million Naver users.

Naver Pay Wallet to Redefine Digital Payments with Blockchain Technology

Naver, often named the “Google of South Korea”, operates the nation’s most popular search engine. Recently, Similarweb reported that it is the website with the most visitors in the country. That is after recording over 1.7 billion visits in the past month alone.

The launch of the Naver Pay Wallet will further reinforce the dominance that Naver already exerts over the South Korean tech space.

The Naver Pay Wallet, currently in the beta phase, is managed by Naver’s subsidiary, Naver Pay. With over 97,000 merchant users, Naver Pay already commands a reasonable amount of prominence in the digital payment industry. However, the new crypto wallet appears to be the company’s way of shifting towards more secure payment options. That is, by maximizing blockchain technology.

Speaking about the new product, Alexandre Dreyfus, founder and CEO of Chiliz, noted that the Naver Pay Wallet is not the usual crypto wallet that people are accustomed to. Unlike most crypto wallets, this one is non-custodial, meaning that users have full control over their private keys. This translates to a higher level of security as well as privacy. Dreyfus’ statement reads in part:

“The Naver Pay Wallet is not aiming to become a typical crypto wallet, but a service around utility and loyalty blockchain technology.”

According to the announcement, the wallet will support both cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). So, users may rest assured that they have access to a broad range of digital assets.

Expectations for the Future

Dreyfus did hint that there are exciting things to come for the Naver Pay Wallet in the near future. The company plans to add more functionality by integrating various decentralized applications (DApps), fan tokens, and a merchant loyalty program into the wallet.

He also noted that the target audience for the wallet are those tech-savvy individuals who already use Naver Pay for digital payments. The only extra attribute, however, might be that they are interested in exploring blockchain technology, particularly in the areas of sports, entertainment, and digital assets, he added.

For what it’s worth, the Chiliz blockchain is the first to be integrated into the Naver Pay Wallet. However, Dreyfus mentioned that Naver is not ruling out adding support for other blockchains in the future.

With that kind of flexibility that could potentially make the wallet a hub for multiple blockchain networks, it will not come as a surprise if its appeal to users skyrockets in a short time.

Notably, Naver appears to have a keen interest in crypto at this moment. Its crypto wallet comes barely a day after its messaging app, LINE, also forayed into crypto.next

Naver Partners with Chiliz to Launch Its First-Ever Crypto Wallet