"The ultimate goal of Busan Digital Asset Nexus is to go beyond buying and selling assets and build a digital ecosystem with a single wallet that handles administration, payments, and asset management. Once use cases are implemented in Busan, we will expand nationwide and export the technology overseas."Kim Sang-min, CEO of Busan Digital Asset Nexus
Busan Digital Asset Nexus (BIDAN·Busan Digital Asset Nexus) is a real world asset (RWA·Real World Asset) exchange launched with 100% private capital under the leadership of the city of Busan. It supports transactions by digitizing seven types of physical assets, including gold and silver, with Blockchain technology. The largest shareholder of Busan Digital Asset Nexus is FOCUS AI, and the second-largest shareholder is ITCEN GLOBAL. FOCUS AI was founded by Chairman Yang Jae-seok, the founder of the coffee franchise COMPOSE COFFEE.
The digital product "e-gold" traded on Busan Digital Asset Nexus is linked to a physical asset. The actual gold is stored in the secure vaults of Korea Gold Exchange, and customers can withdraw it in physical form if they wish. Physical gold can be withdrawn from Korea Gold Exchange in minimum units of 100g, and a 10% value-added taxes is imposed when withdrawing gold.
Busan Digital Asset Nexus is pushing to expand its transaction items beyond minerals like gold and silver to non-mineral assets such as coffee beans, crude oil, cocoa, wine, and carbon credits. A company holding physical assets issues a voucher to Busan Digital Asset Nexus, and the exchange distributes this voucher. Busan Digital Asset Nexus verifies the status of physical asset storage through regular inspections.
Busan Digital Asset Nexus is also developing "BIDAN Pouch." Based on the payment infrastructure (infrastructure) of Dongbaekjeon, Busan's local currency, BIDAN Pouch aims to be a "city-level digital wallet" that integrates administrative services, payment functions, and virtual assets into a single wallet. The following is a Q&A with Kim.
─ You moved from politics to head a physical asset exchange.
"In the 19th National Assembly in 2012, I served as a proportional representative for the Saenuri Party on the National Policy Committee. I handled Fintech (a compound of Finance and Technology) policy at the time and came to know the Fintech industry, including virtual assets. I was later recommended by the city of Busan to serve as head of the founding task force for Busan Digital Asset Nexus. After the launch of Busan Digital Asset Nexus, I was appointed CEO at the request of shareholders."
Kim has served as CEO of Busan Digital Asset Nexus since Mar. 2024.
─ What achievements would you highlight since the launch?
"In September last year, Busan Digital Asset Nexus acquired as a subsidiary the precious metals transaction platform "Sengold," which had been spun off as a physical partitioning by Korea Gold Exchange Digital Asset. Sengold posted an operating loss of 4.89 billion won in 2024, and it also recorded about a 4.9 billion won operating loss until the acquisition last year.
After completing the acquisition, we focused on management efficiency for three months without any personnel restructuring. As a result, we succeeded in turning to a profit of about 2.8 billion won last year. The transaction amount rose about 90%, from 253.5 billion won in 2024 to 482 billion won last year. We expect first-quarter operating profit this year to be about 4 billion won, surpassing last year's full-year results."
After acquiring Sengold, the corporate name was changed to BIDAN GOLD, and the service name to BIDAN.
─ What are your plans to expand transaction items and what are the listing standards?
"The iron rule of Busan Digital Asset Nexus is securing stability. We first verify that investment assets are safely stored, and once stability is confirmed, we expand the product lineup to meet investor demand. We plan to expand transaction items to commodities such as coffee beans, crude oil, and cocoa. Our operating policy is to offer individual investors opportunities to invest in commodity markets that were monopolized by a few."
─ Why did you describe Busan as a powerful asset?
"Busan is a megacity of 3.3 million people with fully developed port, logistics, rail, and transportation infrastructure, and it is the only Blockchain regulatory free zone in the country. If we digitize the infrastructure of traditional industries such as shipping and manufacturing, we can create new growth engines.
As a testbed for future technologies worldwide, Busan can discover diverse real use cases and give birth to a digital infrastructure city model. This is why we see the city of Busan as the most powerful asset in the era of digital transformation."
─ What results are you expecting this year?
"This year is the first year BIDAN Pouch comes to life. Existing Web3 wallet services have been limited to functions such as storing and remitting virtual assets and accessing non-fungible tokens (NFT·Non-fungible token).
BIDAN Pouch is a city system-type Web3 wallet that, in addition to existing functions, connects the daily lives of Busan citizens and urban infrastructure with digital finance. It is designed so that administrative services, public payments, various verifications, and remittances all operate within a single wallet. If we create a successful BIDAN Pouch case in Busan, we expect to export it to cities and countries around the world."