LG Launches NFT Platform
The South Korean electronics manufacturer, better known for its TVs LG, has just launched its own NFT marketplace called “LG Art Labs,” available today to all LG television owners with the webOS 5.0 software.
LG Art Labs is accessed through the home screen and allows users to buy, sell, and trade trade non-fungible tokens (NFTs) right on their couch.
An NFT is a deed of ownership over an item. Often represented in digital forms like paintings, profile pictures, video game items, sports memorabilia, movie, and comic collectibles.
Wallypto, LG’s in-app crypto wallet developed by the Hedera network last September, handles transactions on the app.
“Wallypto, built on Hedera, has been developing since September 2021,” Chris Jo, senior vice president, head of platform business at LG Electronics home entertainment company, told TechCrunch. “Its beta version of the wallet launched this week in August.”
The partnership between LG and Hedra was announced in 2020 when LG joined the Hedera governing council, including industry giants such as IBM and Google.
“While many people have heard of NFTs and would like to participate in the growing ecosystem, it can be overly complex and difficult to get started,” Jo said. “LG Art Lab is designed to allow millions of users in the U.S. to easily access and display NFTs, without having to interact with code or directly with a blockchain themselves.”
Hedera uses an alternative distributed ledger system (DLS) to blockchain called hashgraph, which has high-functionality smart contracts, high energy efficiency, and costs fractions of a penny to transact on.
The Hedera Network consumes vastly less energy than any other public ledger, making it the ideal choice for sustainable initiatives and meaning that it can meet the ESG of modern businesses and investors,” Jo explained. Users can buy, sell and display NFTs on the Hedera network without worrying about the high energy consumption associated with other public networks, he said, adding that Hedera guarantees a low, predictable fee for users, unlike many other decentralized networks.
LG isn't the only South Korean tech giant getting into non-fungible tokens, as their rival Samsung announced in March that it would partner with Nifty Gateway to create its very own NFT marketplace.
Launched in January, the Samsung NFT Platform enables users to display NFTs through a smart TV interface and buying and trading of blockchain digital collectibles.