Bidding is underway to buy the Nexon (NXC) business empire. Two consortiums have emerged as frontrunners – one led by game developer Netmarble and another, by South Korean internet giant Kakao Group. Cryptocurrency exchanges Bitstamp and Korbit find pride of place in NXC’s holdings. Bitstamp is Europe’s oldest platform and Korbit is one among the country’s big four exchanges.
Chinese giant Tencent continues to be interested in acquiring the empire too. It consists of babycare and gaming brands. As for NXC’s asking price, it remains in the 8.8 billion USD range. Despite this, the Netmarble and Kakao led consortiums are expected to be in the leading.
When the initial details of the sale had emerged back in January, reports had informed that Kakao, Tencent and Tencent might infact be potential buyers.
If Kakao is successful in its endeavor, it will head a vast crypto-and-blockchain business network. It has made significant investments into Dunamu prior to this. Dunamu operates the Upbit exchange i.e. another big four trading platform. Kakao also operates Ground X, its very own blockchain subsidiary that has developed the Klaytn platform. If rumors are to be believed, the company plans to introduce its own token someday that it will integrate with the Kakao Pay e-pay platform as well as its online banking services.
Netmarble is no less keen on blockchain and cryptocurrency. Infact, media reports believe that it may launch a Netmarble Coin sometime in the future.
In other news –
Korbit has shut its American business arm down. It had planned to carve its own space in the North American crypto-sphere through Korbit USA but the long bear market and shrinking market has forced it to cancel any such plans. Korbit USA was launched soon after NXC had completed its Korbit takeover in 2017.
A spokesperson speaking on behalf of NXC to the media said that although they’ve shut down Korbit USA, they have no plans of selling the main exchange platform.
Bitstamp’s American subsidiary has been winning on the other hand, with a newly acquired BitLicense i.e. trading permit from New York state’s financial regulator – the Department of Financial Services.
The DFS has declared that Bitstamp USA is permitted to buy and sell Bitcoins and Altcoins, transfer funds onto the Ripple network, issue Ripple Balances in USD, other cryptocurrencies as well as other foreign currencies such as yen, euros, Swiss francs and so on.
Andrej Burcev got into Crypto while completing his Bachelor of Science at Kingston University in London. Andrej now works as Senior Software Engineer. He is currently collaborating and writing articles for TheDailyCoins with his focus in innovative technology and its cultural and social influence.
