LG Electronics launches NFT platform that lets users buy and sell digital artwork

LG Electronics said today it has released its non-fungible token (NFT) platform LG Art Lab, which lets users discover, buy, sell and trade NFTs on LG’s smart TVs.

The announcement comes roughly eight months after LG Electronics said at its press conference that it plans to incorporate NFT features into its smart TV. The platform is now available in the U.S. only to those with LG TV running webOS 5.0 or later and is accessible directly from the home screen.

LG Electronics partnered with the Hedera network to offer an app that enables users to purchase NFTs via Wallypto, LG’s crypto wallet for smartphones.

“Wallypto, built on Hedera, has been developing since September 2021,” Chris Jo, senior vice president, head of platform business at LG Electronics home entertainment company, told TechCrunch. “Its beta version of the wallet launched this week in August.”

The partnership between Hedera and LG Electronics was initiated in 2020 when LG joined the Hedera governing council that includes Google, IBM, Deutsche Telekom and the Indian Institute of Technology, and more.

“While many people have heard of NFTs and would like to participate in the growing ecosystem, it can be overly complex and difficult to get started,” Jo said. “LG Art Lab is designed to allow millions of users in the U.S. to easily access and display NFTs, without having to interact with code or directly with a blockchain themselves.”

The NFT platform provides a Drops feature that profiles artists and shows their new artwork previews. Its real-time Live Drops feature gives notifications to help users acquire a dropped NFT to ensure they do not miss an opportunity.

Image Credits: LG Electronics/ Courtesy of Barry X Ball Studio, Inc.

Jo also said that Hedera allows users to transact for less than $0.0001 cent per transaction (with no high gas fee or hidden costs), meaning that there are no hidden costs associated with the NFT platform.

“The Hedera Network consumes vastly less energy than any other public ledger, making it the ideal choice for sustainable initiatives and meaning that it can meet the ESG of modern businesses and investors,” Jo explained. Users can buy, sell and display NFTs on the Hedera network without worrying about the high energy consumption associated with other public networks, he said, adding that Hedera guarantees a low, predictable fee for users, unlike many other decentralized networks.

South Korea’s IT and entertainment companies are jumping into the non-fungible token (NFT) industry. In January, LG’s rival Samsung unveiled its new smart TV-based NFT marketplace plan. Samsung said it will add NFT features on Samsung TVs like MICRO LED and Neo QLED.