WeMade to retire WEMIX cryptocurrency for investor value

WeMade Co., a South Korean game developer, plans to retire 2% of its cryptocurrency WEMIX in the next two weeks to bolster its value for investors, its CEO said on Wednesday, after massive unnoticed selling of the virtual currency dented both the stock and digital coin last month.

“Coin holders must earn appropriate compensation when the ecosystem grows,” said WeMade CEO Chang Hyun-guk in an online conference. “We will continue to implement the price-linked cancellation plan since WEMIX prices will be an indicator of the ecosystem’s growth and performance.”

The pioneer in the country’s play-to-earn (P2E) game industry has pledged to cancel 1% of WEMIX’s total issuance whenever the cryptocurrency rises $10 apiece until its price reaches $200 during an earnings call for the fourth quarter of 2021 last week.

WEMIX rose 3% to 7,260 won ($6.1) on Thursday morning on Bithumb, one of the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges.

On Jan. 10, the virtual coin fell to as low as 4,705 won, the lowest since Oct. 29, 2021, according to Bithumb as investors dumped the virtual currency on market talk that WeMade earlier sold 50 million WEMIX units worth up to 300 billion won. The cryptocurrency rebounded as it was also allowed to be traded on Upbit, South Korea’s biggest crypto exchange.

'WATCH TREND, NOT EARNINGS'

WeMade’s stock, however, stayed under pressure, hitting a four-month low of 93,800 won on Feb. 14, after the producer of Mir 4 said it earned 225.5 billion won from the selling of WEMIX last year, 63% of its total sales in 2021.

“The share prices tumbled on views that WeMade’s earnings excluding the liquidation were too small, but it should be considered that the business is still in the early stages,” Chang said. “It is necessary to look at the trend, not the earnings itself.”

Chang stressed the traffic to its blockchain game platform increased eight times and the platform’s sales jumped more than seven times in the fourth quarter as Mir4, the popular Mir4, a free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), was added to the platform.

He vowed to invest as planned in the completion and stabilization of the platform, which is set to add 20 new games including Yulgang Global and Gunship Battle: Crypto Conflict in the first half.

“The more games it adds, the clearer its performance will be,” Chang said.

WeMade also plans to expand business in North America, said Chang. “We will work with developers in North America to attract users there.”

In addition, the company considered the linkage of various coins such as DRACO and Tornado with social casino games as the sector is expected to play a key role in the company’s sales.

WeMade agreed to buy a controlling stake in smaller rival SundayToz Corp., better known for its mobile game Anipang series, for 136.7 billion won in December last year.

Write to Min-Ki Koo at kook@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.