Avalanche targets 'Korean-won stablecoin'…"Actively discussing with institutions at 'EastPoint'" [EastPoint 2025]

Interview with Kim Yong-il, Head of Ava Labs Asia

"Avalanche, a blockchain B2B tailor shop"

Adopted by over 100 institutions including the U.S. state of Wyoming

Sponsor participant at 'EastPoint Seoul' on the 22nd

"Avalanche (AVAX) is a blockchain B2B 'tailor shop.'"

Kim Yong-il, Head of Ava Labs (AVA Labs) Asia (photo) said in an interview with Bloomingbit on the 19th, "Avalanche is a blockchain that can be 'tailored' to institutional demand." Kim added, "Avalanche's greatest advantage is that its layer-1 blockchain can be customized for specific purposes," and explained, "Avalanche's 'custom chain' technology is unrivaled in the industry."

Ava Labs is the developer of the layer-1 blockchain Avalanche. It was founded in 2018 by Emin Gun Sirer, a professor in the Department of Computer Science at Cornell University. With the launch of the Avalanche mainnet in 2019, the market capitalization of the Avalanche token was $14.45 billion (about ₩20.1 trillion) as of that day, ranking 13th among all cryptocurrencies.

Targeting the blockchain B2B market

Ava Labs is focusing on the B2B market. This maximizes the advantage of providing custom blockchains optimized for institutional demand. In Japan, the Ava Labs Asia team led by Kim Yong-il secured major institutions such as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Toyota, and Suntory as Avalanche blockchain partners. Domestically, Nexon and SK Planet have also partnered with Avalanche to enter blockchain businesses.

Kim emphasized, "In the future, every company will ultimately have its own blockchain." He added, "However, there are limits to institutions actively adopting public blockchains where all internal information can be publicly traced," explaining, "This is why custom blockchains designed for specific purposes are necessary." He went on, "Avalanche provides a high-performance blockchain where only authorized users can access data," adding, "It is a kind of 'purpose-specific blockchain' delicately tailored to each institution's business field and characteristics."

Thanks to this technological capability, Avalanche's blockchain partners recently exceeded 100. In terms of number of adopting institutions, it is the largest among all blockchains.

Domestic web3 research firm Tiger Research explained, "The reason various institutions choose Avalanche is its 'structural differentiation.' Avalanche is like a vast urban transport network where several highways (individual chains) operate independently while remaining connected to each other."

They added, "From an institutional perspective, the key point is that you can build a custom layer-1 blockchain optimized for your business while still leveraging the security and interoperability of the entire Avalanche ecosystem."

"Optimized for stablecoins"

Ava Labs has also been making a concerted effort to target the stablecoin market since last year. A representative achievement is that the U.S. state of Wyoming issued the United States' first state government stablecoin last month through Avalanche.

Wyoming launched its own stablecoins on seven blockchains including Avalanche, Ethereum, Solana, and Arbitrum. Among them, the blockchain that Wyoming uses for actual stablecoin payments, such as service fee payments, is Avalanche.

Kim said, "The initial tests for Wyoming's stablecoin were conducted on Avalanche," and "Wyoming's custom blockchain for its payment system is also Avalanche-based."

Wyoming chose Ava Labs as a stablecoin partner for clear reasons: Avalanche was judged to be the best in terms of the speed and stability required to operate a stablecoin system. In fact, according to Circle (USDC)'s own analysis, the time it takes to send Circle on Avalanche averages around 1 second, the fastest among the 25 blockchains supported by Circle.

Circle (USDC) payment/remittance performance comparison by blockchain. Photo provided = Tiger Research

Regulatory compliance is also a strength. Because Avalanche excels at custom services, it can provide blockchains optimized for local regulations such as foreign exchange and anti-money laundering.

Tiger Research said, "The most important thing in an actual business environment is the ability to comply with regulations," and explained, "On Avalanche, you can set validators to be located in specific countries or require transactions only from users who have completed identity verification."

Kim said, "When institutions adopt blockchains, what they prioritize most are speed and stability, which are directly tied to trust," and added, "Considering technical performance and regulatory compliance, Avalanche is a blockchain optimized for stablecoins."

Accelerating focus on the Korean market

Ava Labs is accelerating its push into the Korean market in line with the institutionalization of KRW stablecoins. Crypto infrastructure firm BDACS recently collaborated with Woori Bank to issue South Korea's first Korean-won stablecoin 'KRW1' on Avalanche and completed a technical verification (PoC). Domestic payments and fintech company Danal's subsidiary Danal Fintech also decided earlier this month to issue a Korean-won stablecoin on Avalanche.

Kim said, "If KRW stablecoins become institutionalized, what matters is active circulation and use," adding, "I believe tailor-made blockchain mainnets like Avalanche can play a major role in activating KRW stablecoins."

He also mentioned the potential of the Korean blockchain market. Kim said, "Korea has many multinational conglomerates with 'new technology DNA' and strong soft power suited to digitization, such as K-pop," and "Ava Labs established its first overseas team in Korea because it highly values the potential of the Korean market."

In particular, Avalanche will participate as a sponsor in the global Web3 private conference 'EastPoint Seoul 2025' to be held on the 22nd. Kim said, "'EastPoint Seoul' is the first domestic event to focus on 'institutions' and 'decentralized finance (DeFi),' and we plan to actively discuss strategic partnership measures with domestic companies and institutional investors on-site."

John Nahas, Ava Labs Chief Business Officer (CBO), will also visit Korea to participate in 'EastPoint Seoul.' Kim said, "'EastPoint Seoul' will be a key event for the domestic blockchain industry given the timing," adding, "Korea is now beginning to adopt KRW stablecoins in earnest, and various financial products are expected to be tokenized."

Lee Jun-hyung Bloomingbit reporter gilson@bloomingbit.io