Klaytn is a global public blockchain platform developed by GroundX, a subsidiary of the South Korean IT giant, Kakao. Launched in June 2019, Klaytn strives to drive blockchain mass adoption by providing a seamless experience for both users and developers. The platform is known for its low transaction latency, enterprise-grade reliability, and a developer-friendly environment. Klaytn's native digital asset, KLAY, fuels and secures the protocol. The platform has generated over 1 billion transactions from more than 300 decentralized applications, making it a player in the Web 3.0 ecosystem.

Klaytn operates using an optimized version of Istanbul BFT consensus algorithm, which allows transactions to achieve absolute finality within a second. This feature enables responsive user experiences and supports use cases where near-instant and irreversible finality is necessary. Klaytn's unique governance structure includes a Governance Council, composed of global enterprises and DAOs, which forms a compact validator network. This network delivers the benefits of a decentralized public blockchain while maintaining the performance of a permissioned blockchain. Klaytn also utilizes a hub-and-spoke model for scalability, with service chains that can be customized for specific DApp requirements.

Klaytn's potential use cases span a broad array of sectors, from DeFi to real-world assets, entertainment, gaming, and even central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot projects. Klaytn offers an end-to-end metaverse package that includes customized Layer 2 solutions, SDKs, smart contract libraries, IPFS solutions, wallets, chain explorers, oracles, and bridges. This package simplifies the process of building for the metaverse. Klaytn also supports Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) as one of the emerging standards for the metaverse and Web3, making it compatible with existing Ethereum clients and interfacing libraries.

Klaytn was developed and launched in June 2019 by GroundX, the blockchain subsidiary of Kakao, Korea's largest mobile platform. After two years in Korea, the Klaytn Foundation was established to accelerate global adoption and ecosystem maturity on Klaytn. The foundation manages the Klaytn Growth Fund and operates alongside Krust, a subsidiary of Kakao Corp that invests in projects built on Klaytn. Klaytn has become a globally competitive Web 3.0 ecosystem developed in South Korea.