Arbitrum Deepens Ties with South Korea's Lotte Group

Arbitrum, the largest layer-2 network on top of Ethereum, plans to deepen ties with Lotte Group, the multibillion-dollar South Korean conglomerate known for its vast portfolio of shopping malls, media companies and entertainment properties.

According to Offchain Labs, the developer behind Arbitrum, and the Arbitrum Foundation, the non-profit that stewards the project's development, a financial deal is in the works that would cement Arbitrum as the main blockchain infrastructure provider for "Caliverse," Lotte's metaverse gaming platform.

A representative for the Arbitrum Foundation told CoinDesk on Tuesday that Lotte had received the project's "biggest-ever" grant of $ARB tokens. However, the Foundation and Offchain Labs retracted this statement later in the day, clarifying that such a deal has not been finalized.

A Lotte-Arbitrum integration could signal renewed interest from traditional companies in building blockchain-based virtual worlds—the "metaverse" concept that earned mainstream buzz a few years ago but has since become less top-of-mind for many technologists and investors. Lotte first showed interest in releasing metaverse-related products in 2022 and announced that it was entering a "strategic partnership" with Arbitrum last year.

Caliverse is mainly a venue where the South Korean megacompany experiments with emerging tech trends like artificial intelligence, virtual reality and crypto. Caliverse users can explore virtual worlds featuring differing kinds of media content and futuristic shopping experiences. The app currently features content from a grab-bag of big brands, ranging from 7-Eleven to the Tomorrowland music festival.

Users can currently shop, view concerts, play games and experience other kinds of media within the Caliverse app. The planned integration with Arbitrum would give users the ability to pay for all of these services using crypto.

The Arbitrum blockchain has become a popular choice among gaming platforms, with the network experiencing a 72% year-over-year growth in 2024 for gaming, according to Offchain Labs. According to a press release the company shared with CoinDesk, Arbitrum currently hosts 119 game titles and 23 gaming-focused blockchains through its Arbitrum Orbit stack, a customizable toolkit that lets developers create their own blockchains based on Arbitrum’s technology.

"Arbitrum’s blockchain is the ideal home ground for Caliverse thanks to industry-leading 250ms block times that can enable seamless virtual world and gaming use cases," said Steven Goldfeder, the co-founder and CEO of Offchain Labs. "The Arbitrum technology stack will provide users of Caliverse a seamless and consumer-friendly experience, setting a new standard for Arbitrum-based interactions in virtual worlds."

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CORRECTION (1/8/25 00:49 UTC): Representatives for the Arbitrum Foundation originally told CoinDesk they had awarded Lotte the "biggest-ever" $ARB ecosystem grant. After this article was published, the Foundation said it misspoke and clarified that a deal has not been finalized.