Circle partners with Krafton and Naver Z’s joint venture to build ‘Roblox-style’ metaverse

Stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial announced its partnership on Monday with Overdare, a joint venture set up by South Korean gaming and metaverse giants Krafton and Naver Z Corporation.

With the partnership, Overdare plans to leverage Circle’s programmable wallets in developing its user-generated content gaming platform, according to a statement released Monday. Such an arrangement could help game content creators to create in-game wallets for receiving USDC payouts.

In an X post, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said that a “large-scale, Roblox-style” metaverse based on Circle’s wallet infrastructure and USDC is under development. 

The platform, named Overdare, aims to provide users with artificial intelligence-generative tools, and is expected to launch in the second half of 2024, the company said in the statement. It intends to integrate the Cosmos-based layer-1 blockchain Settlus to establish its revenue distribution model for creators.

“We believe this partnership will be a catalyst in shaping the future of digital entertainment, ultimately fostering an innovative Web3 environment for all,” Allaire said in the statement.

Circle’s USDC is the second largest dollar-pegged stablecoin, with a market capitalization of $28.2 billion, according to The Block data.