The Snowseed team is venturing into new businesses for the future, guided by a corporate philosophy of pioneering, coexistence, and hope.
The blockchain-based market seemed to have collapsed entirely, but by January 2024, the market began to stir again alongside the rising value of Bitcoin. The Bitcoin halving in April and the U.S. presidential election in November will likely impact the market. In a market once dominated by the Ethereum mainnet, the Solana mainnet is now gaining prominence, along with meme coins and NFTs. Snowseed aims to initiate a renewal, establishing a clear vision as it leads the RWA market, based on the Solana mainnet, by promoting RWA and advancing with a vision of basic income and coexistence. We are ready to create a sensation once again and hope this space will document the journey and serve as a means of communication with holders who will join us at Snowseed.
The most important turning point in our Indonesian journey began with our Vietnam visit. It was there that I met Hao, the CEO of a Vietnamese fintech company who connected Snowseed with Magic Eden. In retrospect, the Vietnam trip, while somewhat disappointing in immediate results, had a profound impact on Snowseed’s business.
Hao, the CEO of a fintech company that developed a blockchain wallet integrated into Samsung Z-flip6, continues to collaborate with numerous companies.
In the hot summer of 2022, I received a phone call from CEO Ryan (former COO of Metakongz and now CEO of Snowseed).
“Indonesia seems to be growing significantly. How about visiting there?”
At the time, the idea didn’t resonate much with me. While I recognized the market’s appeal and its potential to be a huge turning point, I was too busy to consider it seriously.
Occasionally, CEO Hwang Hyun-ki would mention Indonesia and how he was acting as an agent to help domestic companies enter the market. I frequently traveled back and forth between Korea and Indonesia with him and Director Kim Jae-min (former Metakongz director and current CLO of Snowseed). Over time, I heard more about their journey, and gradually, I became captivated by the opportunities in Indonesian business.
In June 2023, CEO Hwang Hyun-ki reached out to ask if I could connect Vietnamese fintech companies and communities with Indonesian companies. Although I had never been to Vietnam and had little information about it, I did my best to leverage my network to assist them. As a result, I succeeded in arranging meetings with successful Vietnamese businessmen for a 3-night, 4-day trip.
Join us for our Vietnam trip in July 2023.
We headed to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. There, we met many young entrepreneurs, and I witnessed Vietnam’s rapid growth, driven by its young population. Perhaps our country was restricting the development of new technologies, while other countries, except for ours, were embracing them and growing new businesses. On the other hand, Indonesia, with its focus on primary industries such as resources, minerals, and real estate, found it harder to adopt new innovations. We asked Mr.Ryan, a forward-thinking Korean, to explore the future potential. In several meetings, we discussed applying blockchain and NFTs, already in use in Vietnam, to Indonesia. I’ll elaborate on this later, but Hao, whom I met during this trip, became a key player in the Vietnamese Web 3.0 market. Hao firmly believed that Bitcoin was the future, and we shared the same belief, which led to future collaborations.
Reflecting on the Vietnam trip, I would evaluate it as half a success and half a failure.
Vietnamese entrepreneurs didn’t see the need to collaborate with overseas companies. Their domestic market was sufficient, and they didn’t want to take on the additional challenges and expenses.
After meeting with several fintech company executives, I returned to Korea after my 3-night, 4-day schedule.
However, I came to a significant realization: everyone around me was forward-thinking and preparing for major changes — except me.
“Indonesia seems to be growing significantly. Why not visit?”
Those words kept resonating in my mind. I became convinced that my future lay in Indonesia.
In September 2023, I decided to go to Indonesia and set up meetings with various individuals. This decision marked a turning point in my life, something I will write about extensively in the future.
At the end of October 2023, I embarked on my journey to Indonesia.
“There is a company called Buckingham Holdings. They do a lot of work with the Indonesian government and are involved in major projects. I think we could collaborate on some things.”
I heard a lot about Indonesia — its businesses, accomplishments, and achievements. Maybe I was overwhelmed by the information, but I didn’t fully understand the scope of business in Indonesia.
I needed to study Indonesia, particularly to understand Buckingham Holdings Indonesia (hereafter Buckingham) and their operations.
The projects Buckingham was involved in were truly astonishing to me.
They were working on a wide range of initiatives, such as the PDT Cancer Specialized Hospital, Siloam PDT Cancer Clinic Center, a 410,000-pyeong LFP Battery Plant Project in Bekasi, Bangka Island Resort, 41 branches of the Lippo Mall Korean Cosmetics Edit Shop, the Banten New City Project (100 million m2), a cryptocurrency exchange, a microloan bank, and even a K-pop festival.
At that point, I didn’t think I could work with Buckingham, given the scale of their projects.
Initially, the Indonesian schedule was set for a week. However, CEO Hwang Hyun-ki extended it to 45 days, giving me ample time to study Buckingham’s business.
The Palembang gas pipeline project, ordered by Buckingham in 2016, was what brought Chairman James Lee, the current head of Buckingham Holdings Indonesia, to settle in the country.
People who made our hearts race
To introduce Buckingham’s business, it’s essential to explain who its key members are. These people form the core of the business, with each chairman playing a major role in their respective fields.
In order to introduce Buckingham Holdings’ business, it is necessary to explain who the members are. With these people at the center, the business has been carried out regardless of the field, and the chairmen of each field play a major role as the mainstay of Buckingham Holdings’ business.
Chairman Peter and Chairman Hengky are the owners of Panin Bank and brothers, and they are working together in the financial business of Buckingham Holdings. Chairman Peter has a bad cough, so I always gave him vitamins whenever I saw him. Whenever I saw him, he would say, “Mr. Park! Vitamin thank you!” and always greet me brightly. Chairman Hengky is always playful, so when we are doing something, he would laugh and show interest. Chairman Henky is currently serving as the CEO of Sukses Artha Mandiri Microloan Bank.
Chairman Budi’s trademark is shorts and slippers. He always eats simply and often seems to be thinking deeply about something, which makes it hard to know what he is thinking. However, Chairman Budi is the person who brought the artha mandiri Group Life Insurance Company to its current position, and is the owner of the 40-story Siloam MRCCC, one of only two cancer centers in Indonesia, and the person who helped Executive Director Marshall grow from his days as an employee at artha mandiri Group.
The legacy of Siloam Hospital and its visionary leader, Chairman Dr. Anang, stands as a living testament to the institution’s success and reputation, who took office as the director when there were 6 Siloam Hospitals and opened 41 general hospitals and 120 clinic centers. Chairman Anang will sign a business agreement with the Korean government for AI remote medical treatment at the consortium held at Samsung COEX Continental in April 2024.
Executive Director Marshall is the second-in-command of the artha mandiri Group and is in charge of managing the entire Lipo Mall. When he came to Korea on April 29, 2024 for AI remote medical treatment, he was always embarrassed whenever he spoke to me, perhaps because of the unfamiliar environment.
Director Theo Kim is a rare person in Korea who has successfully completed an IPO for a VC company, and is connecting various companies in Singapore, Indonesia, etc.
Edison Tsai, a Taiwanese, is the CEO of SeedIn Inc. in the Philippines and the only person in the Philippines to hold an ART STO license. He is currently a prominent figure in the art-related NFT market and has channels for various fintech businesses in Southeast Asia as the chairman of the 10 Southeast Asian fintech companies association. The reason he became deeply connected with us is that he connected us with the White Horse Club, the second largest casino company in the Philippines, and he has a strong will to expand his business into the Indonesian financial sector. He is also actively investing in the future industry of NFTs, and he joined Snowseed as a shareholder because his vision matches his.
He is currently actively engaged in the art STO business and is expected to be of great help to Snowseed in the future.
In 2016, after successfully completing a gas pipeline construction project, Chairman James Lee of Buckingham Holdings saw the growth potential of Indonesia and founded Buckingham Holdings Indonesia. He created deep relationships with the people he started with, but he did not do anything business-wise with the chairman. As friends of similar age, they played golf and socialized together, but eventually started a business due to continuous requests.
Thus, they started businesses such as PDT Cancer Hospital, Microloan Bank, Cryptocurrency Exchange, K-Pop Festival (we will discuss the festival in detail later), LFP Primary Battery Raw Material Production Plant, Banton New Town Construction, and K-Village.
PDT cancer treatment is undergoing clinical trials in 2017 and is about to be commercialized. We have secured shares through the Snowseed Wise_Alya project. We have started the process of acquiring MENTARI Hospital, a general hospital currently in operation.
Success artha mandiri, which is also Snowseed’s financial underwriter, is a bank represented by Chairman artha mandiri and is conducting a business that provides small loans to ordinary citizens. Since loans are possible only when all family members are guarantors due to the nature of Indonesia, the principal recovery rate is quite high. In addition, we are playing a role in raising funds as the financial underwriter for all projects conducted by Buckingham, not just Snowseed.
The cryptocurrency exchange approved by Buckingham is one of only two exchanges among Indonesian cryptocurrency exchanges that can receive foreign investment, and it is the last exchange to be approved by Bappeti in 2023. Currently, we are discussing equity investment and acquisition with famous domestic exchanges and Eastern European exchanges.
A two-day festival project with famous singers from home and abroad in Jakarta, Indonesia, the world’s number one consumer of K-content, was scheduled to be held for two days in July 2024, but the festival was canceled due to internal issues at Hive with the first cast, New Jeans. The granddaughter of the chairman of Sinarmas Land, the second largest conglomerate, really likes New Jeans, and if they could recruit New Jeans, they were promised all sponsorships, promoters, and financial support. They are currently hoping to settle the New Jeans situation, and are preparing again with the goal of holding the event between May and June 2025.
After successfully completing the construction of the Palembang gas pipeline, Buckingham Holdings will purchase 1,310,000m2 of land in the Bekasi Industrial Complex, located right next to Hyundai Motor Company, as a success fee. After that, they are promoting the establishment of a factory to produce the main raw material for LFP in a joint venture with Naupene, and the business is currently being carried out centered around Chairman Keith. The reason why Indonesian secondary battery raw materials are produced in Indonesia is because Chinese companies are not able to smoothly import and export due to US regulations on China, so they want to produce and import them from other countries instead of China. Indonesia is a democratic country that has friendly relations with both China and the US.
Located an hour away by plane west of Jakarta, Bangka Island proposed a business to Buckingham to develop Bangka Island into a tourist destination when the primary industry, tin industry, was coming to an end. The first tourist destination is to build a resort and golf course. If construction of the resort and golf course begins in earnest, Snowseed will also participate in the project.
Chairman James suddenly came to me and said, “Hey, Chris, are you the grandson of President Park Bo-hee? Do you want to take charge of the construction of the new city?” I was so shocked by the sudden offer that I said, “Yes.” The next day, I met with Vice Minister Imam, the Deputy Director of the Jakarta State Investment Board, and we talked. After hearing about my family and asking about my history of working in various industries in Korea, including culture and art, he said it would be a good idea to start with 21.6 million m2, and we signed a contract to develop a new city in Banten City in March 2024. I got a chance to develop a new city that even large companies in Korea could not, and I expect to be able to do a lot of things in the future by connecting it with the Snowseed project. In addition, Banten New City is directly connected to Jakarta by a highway, and a new airport is planned to be built in the northern part of Banten City.
Main Partner LIPPOGroup
A brief introduction to Buckingham’s main partner, Artha Group, is a global group that is ranked 6th in the financial world and has expanded into Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, etc. with a focus on Indonesia. It has an influence on the entire Indonesian industry, including real estate development, healthcare, communications, shopping malls, and large marts. Among them, the shopping mall business unit Artha Mall Indonesia operates 68 malls throughout Indonesia, and the department store Matahari and the large mart Hypermart operate over 100 branches in over 60 cities across Indonesia. It also has affiliates in various industries, including insurance, real estate, banking, healthcare, and distribution.
Through Buckingham, the actual business in Indonesia has been perfectly prepared. Snowseed is accelerating the future business with a new vision and goal that has never existed before by connecting the cryptocurrency market at the crossroads of Web 2.0 and Web 3.0.
We pioneer.
We go together.
We hope.
