Cyworld, which was a dominant social network in South Korea prior to the emergence of Facebook, is set to reopen Saturday afternoon as a social networking tool allowing users to decorate their virtual spaces with cryptocurrency.
Cyworld Z, which acquired Cyworld last year, announced on Monday that the once-mighty homegrown platform would be re-released at 4:42 p.m. on Saturday through the Apple, Google and One Store app markets.
Cyworld also announced plans to launch its first cryptocurrency called DTR as part of its efforts to build a global lifecycle blockchain ecosystem.
Long before metaverse and cryptocurrency crazes such as bitcoin and bitcoin cash, “Dotori”, which means acorn in Korean, introduced the concept of a cybercurrency to many Koreans. In addition to their avatars, users decorated their personal pages with background music and pixelated items purchased using cybercurrency.
Nearly 32 million users used Dotori as a cryptocurrency on the Cyworld platform. Cyworld will be re-launched as a social networking service equipped with dotori and DTR tokens, which will allow users to conduct financial transactions,” the company said.
The news of Cyworld’s return has touched Korean hearts, but the Cyworld operator isn’t counting on nostalgia. Through the creation of a dedicated metaverse ecosystem incorporating extended reality, augmented reality, and blockchain technologies, it intends to bring back the golden era of Cyworld.
Conun, which will be rebranded into Cycon, was chosen as the first Cyworld Z family coin ahead of DTR. With Conun Drive, a desktop platform used to store blockchain data, users will be given the cryptocurrency to enhance the security of their data. Conun can be used to buy Dotori on the virtual platform.
In addition, Cyworld Z plans to offer a non-fungible token platform where users can save photos and receive dotori as compensation.
