NODO interviewed Neo Yiu, Klaytn’s Head of Technology Advocacy, on the chain’s technical peculiarities and global ecosystem development, which includes a growing focus on Africa.

Decentralization has since moved from a tech buzzword to the reality that drives modern markets—and blockchains are at the heart of this. Blockchain technology, touted for its ability to shape a new web3 future for mankind, has faced the challenge of solving the trilemma between decentralization, scalability, and security. Layer 1 blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum are decentralized and secure but with a tradeoff in scalability. Klaytn was initiated and built based on improved user experience in scalability and security. The L1 blockchain is highly scalable while providing a decentralized and secure environment for further adoptions.

Klaytn, by design, has been pushing the boundaries of scalability, interoperability, and real-world assets (RWAs) integration. The EVM-compatible blockchain was initiated in 2019 by Kakao, one of Asia's largest IT service companies, Klaytn has carved a niche for itself as a blockchain tailored for institutional and enterprise adoption.

Launched in June 2019, Klaytn's mainnet, dubbed "Cypress," has been running based on the Istanbul Byzantine Fault Tolerance (IBFT) consensus mechanism. IBFT is preferred above the PoW and PoS mechanisms due to its immediate block finality, reduced time between blocks, high data integrity, and fault tolerance. Klaytn leverages these advantages to deliver a blockchain that is highly efficient and reliable for enterprise adoption and real-world use cases.

Technical Advantages: Scalability, Immediate Finality, and Low Fees

At the core of Klaytn's value proposition is its ability to address some of the most pressing challenges in the blockchain space. According to Neo Yiu, Head of Technology Advocacy at Klaytn, the blockchain boasts an impressive 4,000+ transactions per second (TPS) and a mere 2.1-second end-to-end transaction latency. For context, Ethereum’s TPS averages 25, while Bitcoin stands at 7.

"We are operating on a 1-second block time enabling immediate finality," Neo explains. "What you see is what's already being confirmed. You don't have to wait for 12 minutes for a block to be confirmed. We offer immediate finality with block finalization on the Klaytn blockchain."

This immediate finality, combined with Klaytn's scalability and low transaction fees, creates an ideal environment for real-world asset trading and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications in the ecosystem. Notably, Klaytn's gas price is only a fraction of that of Ethereum, further incentivizing adoption among cost-conscious enterprises.

Traction and Market Successes

Klaytn's success is not merely theoretical; the blockchain has already gained significant traction and adoption within the Asian market. Neo cites statistics, including over 600,000 daily averaged transactions and more than 700,000 monthly active addresses on the Klaytn mainnet.

"After our merger, we're looking at about 35 million web3 wallet users and a market cap of about $1 billion," Neo adds, referring to Klaytn's ongoing merger with Asia’s leading Cosmos-based blockchain, Finschia.

This merger, dubbed the "Dragon Chain," aims to create a potent DeFi and real-world asset (RWA) ecosystem by combining the strengths of both blockchains and ecosystems. With a user base spanning millions and a substantial market capitalization, the Dragon Chain is poised to become Asia’s leading blockchain ecosystem.

“While the Asian market drives 34% of global GDP and 77% of cryptocurrency trading volume, the market capitalization of Asian blockchains is only at 5%, indicating a fragmented and underutilised sector. We see this as a significant opportunity. By merging Finschia and Klaytn, we can combine Asia’s largest product and infrastructure assets, with the aim of establishing the leading blockchain ecosystem in Asia,” reads the merger proposal.

Real-World Asset Integration: Unlocking New Opportunities

One of Klaytn's core focuses is the integration of real-world assets (RWAs), a segment projected to reach $16 trillion in business opportunities by 2030, according to a BCG report. Klaytn is leveraging its efficiencies to position itself as the go-to blockchain for bridging real-world assets with decentralized finance.

Klaytn has already made strides in this foray through partnerships with companies like CREDER, Elysia, and Tokeny—global names in digital asset tokenization.

"Our ecosystem has recently had its very first Gold-pegged Coin ($GPC) launched, which is a 1:1 representation of physical gold," Neo explains of Klaytn’s ecosystem partnership with CREDER. "The RWA ecosystem and GPC have further enabled the launch of the GoldStation platform, a trading and DeFi platform for the $GPC and tokenized gold." Klaytn terms the partnership as the first gold-centric DeFi service on a public mainnet outside of Ethereum.

Additionally, Klaytn has formed a joint venture with Pelayaran Korindo, a conglomerate that operates an Indonesia-centric shipping business, to explore ship finance and the tokenization of ship assets, unlocking new avenues for financing and asset management within the shipping industry.

Africa: A Continent of Web3 Opportunities

While Klaytn's current focus is predominantly on the Asian market, the blockchain has its sights set on expanding its reach to other regions globally, including Africa. Neo highlighted how quality African submissions in past hackathons contributed to the decision to zone in on the market.

"We believe there are so many potential use cases in Africa, especially around RWAs and the digitization of natural resources," Neo states. "By creating digital twins of these resources at the source, we can unlock new economic opportunities and turn the table for Africa in the web3 ecosystem."

Klaytn envisions a future where African nations can tokenize their natural resources at the point of mining, facilitating transparent supply chain management, financing, and ownership structures. This vision aligns with the blockchain's broader goal of driving sustainable and communal on-chain economies.

Klaytn, which is part of the ERC3643 RWA Token Association, will explore opportunities in pan-African adoption as it consolidates its Project Dragon merger. “We will look to empower our communities in Africa to build real-world solutions that leverage our technology to solve some of the continent’s hardest challenges. Africa is blessed with natural resources and growing communities in web3 and digitalization. With the right technology and ecosystem adoption approach, the continent can dramatically lead a global web3 narrative,” Neo said.