[Blooming Lunch] Baek Kwang-hyun "Blockchain, the Key to Restoring Trust in the Entertainment Industry"

Baek Kwang-hyun, Vice President of Modhaus

Blockchain-based fandom platform 'COSMO'

Focus on solving chronic problems in the entertainment industry

The biggest strength of blockchain is 'transparency'

Crypto scene, the passion of its members is attractive

'Meeting good people and having good conversations.' This is the basic purpose of Blooming Lunch. We meet good people in the Crypto Scene (blockchain and virtual asset ecosystem) and share their work and life.

Located on Dosan-daero in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 'Jangdokdae Kimchi Stew' Cheongdam branch is a popular restaurant serving simple dishes like kimchi stew and kimchi jjim in the heart of Cheongdam-dong, where luxury brand boutiques gather. Therefore, it is always crowded with nearby office workers during weekday lunchtimes.

I met Baek Kwang-hyun, Vice President of Modhaus, at this restaurant. He had just returned from a business trip to San Francisco, USA, to attract Series B investment. Vice President Baek, dressed in a black PK shirt, arrived a little earlier than the scheduled time. As I entered the restaurant, he had already ordered food and was heating up the kimchi stew. As soon as I sat down, the pork wrap rice ordered with the kimchi stew was also served.

I took a bite of the kimchi stew, which had just started boiling. It was an 'authentic' taste of kimchi stew, ordinary but not disappointing. The same went for the pork stir-fry. After tasting the kimchi stew, Vice President Baek laughed, saying, "It's a restaurant I often visited with friends since college because the price is not burdensome."

'Enter-tech' Startup

Vice President Baek, a former consultant, oversees the business division at Modhaus. He has been contemplating and designing the business model with CEO Jeong Byeong-gi of Modhaus from the early stages before the company was established. At that time, Vice President Baek was working as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Playlist, a content production company under Naver.

There was no initial connection between the two. Kim Seo-joon, CEO of Hashed, the largest Web3 venture capital (VC) in Korea, played a bridging role. Vice President Baek explained, "(During the business planning stage) I met with CEO Jeong about 10 times a month to have in-depth conversations about Modhaus," and "I decided to join because I agreed with the intention to solve chronic problems in the entertainment industry, beyond simply creating a new entertainment agency."

Vice President Baek defines Modhaus as an 'Enter-tech' startup. Enter-tech is a concept that combines entertainment with technology. According to him, it is still difficult to find enter-tech companies not only in Korea but also overseas.

Vice President Baek said, "I didn't want to be confined to a specific industry even when I was working as a consultant," and "After leaving Bain & Company in 2010, I naturally lost my fear of challenging new fields while experiencing various industries."

"Enhancing Transparency with Blockchain"

The 'tech' chosen by Modhaus is blockchain. Modhaus's fandom platform 'COSMO' operates based on blockchain technology. The key is that tokens given when purchasing photo cards are used as voting rights within COSMO. The fandom of artists affiliated with Modhaus can vote on core producing tasks such as unit composition and album title song selection with tokens. It is an expansion of the business model of the entertainment program 'Produce 101', which gained popularity with the concept of 'idols created by viewers' in 2016.

Vice President Baek emphasized, "The biggest strength of blockchain is transparency." He explained, "The core of the controversy surrounding past idol audition programs was 'vote manipulation'," and "COSMO records all votes as on-chain data, fundamentally blocking the possibility of manipulation." He added, "The sales of albums and photo cards are also recorded on-chain, inevitably increasing the transparency of the settlement process that distributes profits to artists," and "Ultimately, we saw blockchain as a 'problem-solving' tool for the entertainment industry."

The results quickly became visible. The representative example is the attraction of Series A investment worth 10 billion won in 2023. At that time, investors focused on the voting participation rate of COSMO. According to Modhaus, the average voting rate compared to the total number of COSMO users is about 12%. When narrowed down to the monthly active users (MAU), the average voting rate approaches 35%. Vice President Baek said, "The voting rate compared to the total number of users of a typical decentralized organization (DAO) is about 5%," and "As the voting participation rate of fans was high, investors could also agree with the business vision."

While talking about Modhaus's blockchain technology, we finished our meal. By then, the restaurant had become quiet as office workers left after lunchtime. Vice President Baek and I headed to the nearby cafe 'Cafe Anna'. This place uses Fritz's specialty coffee beans. We ordered an Americano brewed with Fritz beans and took a seat on the terrace.

"Many Connections with the Crypto Scene"

Vice President Baek took a sip of coffee and continued speaking. He said, "It's hard to define Modhaus as a 'crypto company', but since we actively utilize Web3 technology, there are quite a few connections with the crypto scene." He added, "Looking at the crypto scene reminds me of the early 2010s when the startup boom first hit Korea," and "Virtual assets are a recently emerged technology, and since the industry is in the stage of being created, all the members are passionate, which is attractive."

Although Modhaus's business base is in the entertainment industry, Vice President Baek's active participation in virtual asset conferences is also in this context. He also spoke as a speaker at the virtual asset conference 'Consensus Hong Kong 2025' held in Hong Kong in February.

Vice President Baek said, "Even 1-2 years ago, when I explained Modhaus's business model at overseas conferences, it was often unfamiliar," and "Recently, 'copycats' are appearing one by one domestically and internationally, so I see that the proof of concept (PoC) of Modhaus's business model has been somewhat achieved." PoC is the process of verifying new products or technologies that do not exist in the market.

When asked about his hobbies, Vice President Baek mentioned running. He said, "I mainly did running when I was resting," and "Recently, I injured my hamstring (muscle behind the thigh), so I am building my strength with other exercises now." Vice President Baek also recently started studying Japanese. This is because the importance of the Japanese market is not small in the domestic entertainment industry. He explained, "Targeting the Japanese market is an inevitable route for entertainment companies," and "I started studying because I want to communicate directly with local partners in Japanese."

While finishing the remaining coffee, Vice President Baek said, "I have a meeting scheduled right after lunchtime." I walked with Vice President Baek to the front of the building where Modhaus's office is located and said goodbye. He checked the Apple Watch on his left wrist and entered the building.

This interview was conducted without support or financial compensation from any specific restaurant or brand, and was conducted without commercial intent. The purpose of the 'Blooming Lunch' corner is to capture free interviews in a casual atmosphere at the interviewee's favorite regular restaurant.