“The existing authentication methods require centralized data requests whenever needed. For companies, data management and security maintenance are constant burdens. In contrast, Crosshub's IDBlock makes the individual's smartphone the subject of information and verifies personal data tampering through blockchain technology. This technology can handle everything from personal authentication for foreigners residing in Korea and overseas Koreans to using domestic simple payment services from abroad.”

The unique personal authentication procedures in Korea are a factor that exacerbates the difficulties of living in Korea for foreigners and are akin to a barrier to internationalization. To live properly in Korea, personal authentication procedures are essential, requiring the opening of a mobile phone in one's name. Not only Korea but countries worldwide have established authentication procedures tailored to their citizens, creating digital borders. If a person's identity can be safely verified technically, personal authentication becomes easier, allowing services to transcend borders and nationalities.


Jae-seol Kim founded the global identity authentication and simple payment service technology startup 'Crosshub' last year, seeing the potential of blockchain technology to unify the global authentication market. Jae-seol Kim began his career in the Ministry of Science and ICT in 1997, later working at Onse Telecom and Dacom, and serving as the head of the BS Business Division at LG Uplus.

Since 2015, he has been involved in ICT projects for over 60 major domestic infrastructure facilities, including Gocheok Sky Dome, Busan Museum of Art, and Jeju Duty-Free Shop, and has promoted the government24 big data-based advancement project of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety as a top developer. We had the opportunity to hear about Crosshub's core technology and market strategy, which started based on Jae-seol Kim's 20 years of IT field experience.

IDBlock, from regional activation to global authentication integration, anything is possible

Crosshub began by winning the grand prize at the 'BIC Blockchain Conference' hosted by the Chungbuk Institute of Science and Technology Innovation in 2023. Jae-seol Kim explained, “At the time, we won the grand prize in the competition with an item that created honorary citizenship certificates for foreigners after authenticating their identity based on blockchain technology. The idea was to provide discounts when foreigners with honorary citizenship certificates authenticate themselves at local tourist attractions.” He continued, “Based on this, Crosshub was established in May 2024, and quickly gained corporate recognition, securing KRW 5 billion in seed investment within a year.”

Securing KRW 5 billion in seed investment within a year of founding is also very unusual, but behind it lies Jae-seol Kim's effort of revising the investment attraction business plan (IR deck) more than 100 times.


There are many technology companies that support verifiable credentials (VC) and decentralized identifiers (DIDs) based on blockchain technology or their own protocols. Jae-seol Kim states that Crosshub is fundamentally different from existing companies and has no competitors. He said, “Our core business is not global identity authentication but data management solutions. All existing authentications are centralized identifier methods that compare with data stored on a central server. This can lead to large-scale personal data breaches due to hacking and incurs maintenance costs.”

He continued, “IDBlock stores personal data on the smartphone itself, and the server only verifies whether it has been tampered with. This technology has already been selected for deep tech TIPS and holds original technology for selectively providing information. Currently, we hold and are applying for 7 patents in Korea, and are also applying in the US and Vietnam.”


The technology of IDBlock is the 'Zero-knowledge Proof' method that has recently emerged in cryptography. Zero-knowledge proof is a method of verifying that a fact based on that information is true without sharing the information itself. For example, a certificate stating that the user is '19 years old or older' is generated from the date of birth stored on the smartphone. When this is sent to the server, the server only verifies the validity of the certificate, proving that the user is '19 years old or older' without directly checking it.

Jae-seol Kim introduced, “For example, the reason why simple payments cannot be used abroad is that personal or financial information cannot be verified. To solve this problem, the related industry is being standardized by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recently. By integrating IDBlock, identity verification regardless of borders becomes possible, allowing the use of simple payments used domestically anywhere in the world.”

Focusing on securing representative introduction cases by field··· Aiming for rapid expansion through bank adoption


Jae-seol Kim is actively working on service introduction and expansion. “Recently, we were selected as a major operator for foreign student-related projects with the Gangwon Industry-Academic Convergence Center. Currently, it is difficult to solve employment issues within the region with the D2 visa for students. Therefore, the Gangwon Industry-Academic Convergence Center received regulatory sandbox approval for the establishment of the D2 LongStay visa, which significantly allows employment during the semester for foreign students,” he explained. “Crosshub will lead a consortium involving over 400 domestic universities for the next six years, supporting the personal information authentication and management of foreign students.”

They are also cooperating with the Ulsan Port Authority for managing incoming foreigners. “When foreign sailors enter Ulsan Port, the entry procedure is done manually. Therefore, we are creating a system where personal authentication is conducted in advance with IDBlock, and entry and exit are automated with QR authentication upon receiving a QR code. This can be applied to various routes of entry and exit for foreigners, including ports and aviation,” he said.

Targeting commercial banks rather than companies is also Jae-seol Kim's strategy. He stated, “There are too many individual companies to propose the adoption of IDBlock. Therefore, we are conducting proof of concept (PoC) with Industrial Bank of Korea and Woori Bank, and once adopted, it will naturally lead to a method used by general companies. If this method is applied, foreigners can use bank services with IDBlock like a joint certificate.”


In overseas business, collaborations with global companies such as Thales, collaboration with Japanese travel company HIS, and winning the Best Innovation Award at CES 2026 were highlighted. Jae-seol Kim said, “We are conducting a proof of concept to integrate IDBlock into Thales' digital security service IDS. With Japan's travel giant HIS, we are planning to support Japan's simple authentication in Korea, envisioning the expansion of travel between the two countries.”

It is rare for a startup in its first year to receive the CES Best Innovation Award with intangible assets rather than a product. Jae-seol Kim stated, “With the support of various local governments, we were able to achieve remarkable results at CES. It seems significant that we were recognized as a solution to recreate existing standardized data management techniques with new technology and solve the long-standing issue of the global payment network. Recently, overseas sovereign wealth funds have also requested investment, and the scale of the business is expected to grow.”

Business expansion gains momentum with government support projects, Seoul Creative Economy Innovation Center support also contributes


As Crosshub's IDBlock is recognized for its value, bold government support is following. Jae-seol Kim said, “This year alone, we have been selected for over 100 support projects, and there are about 30 overseas expansion support projects. We have also won the Minister's Award three times. Every overseas business trip has resulted in contract signings, and we are laying the groundwork for attracting overseas investment. Creative Economy Innovation Centers across the country are widely supporting us, and many institutions are helping IDBlock establish itself as a global standard.”

There is also a connection with the Seoul Creative Economy Innovation Center. Crosshub participated in the 'S.Challenge IR', where excellent companies from each Creative Economy Innovation Center nationwide compete, representing the Seoul Creative Economy Innovation Center, and won the grand prize. They were also recommended as a representative of Korea to Japan for the ILS 2025 (Innovation Leaders Summit), Asia's largest open innovation event. Open innovation is an important program for providing collaboration opportunities between large companies and startups and further establishing strategic collaboration relationships and attracting investment.


Although Crosshub is receiving multifaceted spotlight, the business is always a continuous process of proving itself. Jae-seol Kim said, “As a new company dealing with technology not present in the market, it is challenging to make the counterpart companies understand. By introducing the technology more than 40 times overseas this year, we are relatively quickly building trust with industry stakeholders. We will prove it with performance and achievements.”

Finally, Jae-seol Kim spoke about plans for this year and next year. He stated, “Within a year of establishment, we also signed an export contract worth USD 1.2 million (approximately KRW 1.764 billion) and achieved the feat of winning the CES 2026 Best Innovation Award. Being selected for deep tech TIPS and conducting regulatory sandbox projects are also significant achievements. Early next year, based on the CES Best Innovation Award, we plan to enter the US market and create a system to issue graduation certificates online for universities in the US,” adding, “We aim to advance into all industries requiring personal information authentication and open the era of self-sovereign identity where individuals can manage their personal information.”

IT Donga Nam Si-hyeon Reporter (sh@itdonga.com)

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