LG to launch own blockchain—the Monachain

LG, the “Life’s Good” company that makes televisions, smartphones and other electronic appliances, is getting in on the blockchain boom. Through its LG CNS subsidiary, it has created a blockchain-powered service that provides logistics capabilities for finance, communication and manufacturing firms. The platform, called Monachain, also provides a digital wallet that allows users to conduct financial operations.

Monachain’s main focus is to be a digital authentication system, followed by a cryptocurrency and a digital chain management tool. It has developed a new identification system, a decentralized identifier, enabling personal identification as well as online smart device payments. LG CNS is currently working on securing agreements with a number of banks to expand its cryptocurrency offering to a larger customer base.

In a statement, an LG representative said the Monachain “can help business owners boost productivity as the company provides a digital supply chain management system that enables suppliers to manage the entire production processing efficiently.” Indeed, blockchain technology has already shown to provide huge benefits to logistics and supply chain operations. The results have been documented extensively, creating greater efficiency and customer safety.

Monachain provides a method for participants to create their own cryptocurrency wallets. This could allow local governments to issue local currency and welfare payment programs to other users of the blockchain. Monachain is based on Corda, a permission-based distributed software technology that was created by the R3 consortium.

In May 2017, LG CNS announced that it had joined R3, the largest specialized blockchain consortium in the world. R3 leads a group of over 80 firms in research and development for blockchain use in the financial system and other commerce sectors. It was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in New York City.

Big Korean and foreign banks have helped to boost Corda’s stability. Traders maintain the ledgers, resulting in fast processing times. LG CNS has indicated that it plans on creating a three-party consultative body with Korean startups and R3. The body will provide blockchain services for the financial industry and will establish domestic standards in order to allow developers and companies to easily adopt blockchain technology.

An executive director for the Financial Business Division of LG CNS, Kim Hong-keun, commented last year on the move, “We will provide various financial services using a global blockchain platform with this agreement as a beginning. We are planning to expand our blockchain service to other industries as a whole in the future.”