The young CEO of ``KEKKAI,'' an up-and-coming Web 3.0 security company, reveals the history of starting the company and new information about the business.
Please tell us how you became interested in the Web3.0 area and crypto assets.
To Ma: I entered Waseda University in 2019, and it all started when I took Professor Asahi's class there. I was acquainted with Mr. SUJI, who was the CEO of Mask Network, and he was giving a lecture on blockchain at the time, and I became interested in blockchain technology after hearing that. We currently have a very good relationship with Mask Network.
In 2017, I started my first company, which was different from what I have now. However, at that time, I had only heard the name blockchain, but had no idea how it worked. However, after taking a lecture at university, I became interested in blockchain the more I started learning about it on my own outside of the class, such as how blocks are actually connected and can be proven.
At the end of 2021, I decided to do blockchain consulting, and in 2022 I started a business with a service that allows you to write NFT and FT smart contracts with no code, and also allows you to adjust parameters.
At the time, I was helping companies expand into the Web 3.0 field, but I decided it was time to create my own product. However, when we actually tried to raise funds, we were not well-received by investors at all. Therefore, for a while, I worked as a consultant while organizing the direction of my company's products.
Please tell us what made you decide to start a business in the security field.
To Ma: One day, an NFT worth around 600,000 yen at the time was stolen. At that time, I felt a sense of helplessness, but at the same time I realized that we had to protect individual users like me, and that theft was a problem that needed to be solved.
At that time, I looked for a service to avoid fraud, but I couldn't find one. So we decided to do it ourselves. It was also great that we saw such a market environment as an opportunity.
After that, I started researching whether there was a way to avoid NFT theft. We started "KEKKAI" in January 2023, when the current product was completed and development was settled.
Japan is said to be relatively conservative in the international community, and has the characteristic of placing emphasis on security when starting services or new businesses. However, I felt that there were a lot of security issues.
New Web 3.0 service personnel are aware of the risk of asset theft, so this is where the need arises. Also, Japanese companies secure budgets for security from the beginning, and given the current situation, there are certainly opportunities.
Please tell us why KEKKAI is rated highly by users and engineers, and what makes it different from other security solutions.
To Ma: There are two points that differentiate us from each other: we check individual transactions every time, rather than for companies, which has been the case in the past, and we can also check the security of trading partners in real time.
KEKKAI was released in January of this year and has reached a total of approximately 30,000 downloads. We are focusing on supporting many chains, and are currently able to provide services to a variety of chain users.
Currently, we support 110 chains, while our competitors can only support a dozen or so chains at most. In the future, we are also planning to provide a security-specific browser. Development is progressing and the app is already complete. We believe this product will also be a major differentiating factor.
The reason for starting with a browser is that users who use our service always have a wallet installed. When dealing with crypto assets or NFTs on a computer or smartphone, in most cases the first thing you do is open a browser. In other words, the two are dependent.
When using KEKKAI, you first need to open your browser. If that's the case, we thought it would be a good idea to provide a browser with improved security and convenience. We believe that the security features that are currently installed as standard in wallets are not sufficient.
Services in the Web 2.0 area are separate, such as PayPay for payment and Google account authentication for authentication, but in Web 3.0, for better or worse, everything is completed with a wallet. In addition to payment and account authentication, the same service handles asset management, which increases the risk of assets being stolen or misused.
That's why we would like to eventually create a new concept by intentionally separating the payment and account authentication functions.
In the first place, there are very few wallets that are similar to Web 2.0 services. In order to move Web 2.0 users to the Web 3.0 market, security must first be improved. In the future, we will consider developing a portal service while exploring convenience and security.
Please let us know if there are any products you plan to offer in the future.
To Ma: We hope to release the browser I mentioned earlier in October of this year. In addition, we are planning to release three major products.
First, I'm thinking about "Web 3.0 insurance." In the real world, we have insurance. For example, if you have an accident with your car, you can be covered by insurance. In fact, insurance exists in the NFT field, but it is not used much. Therefore, we are planning to provide insurance services for KEKKAI users in the future.
As it is insurance for digital assets, we are currently in discussions with major insurance companies with the assumption that it will be implemented as a build-in to an existing product.
Second, we are currently developing a product called ``Personal Security Dashboard'' to manage wallet portfolios. In addition to being equipped with a function that allows you to check transaction and asset management history, it also focuses on security, such as a revoke function and the removal of transactions that are suspected to be fraudulent.
You can also monitor your wallet and receive email notifications when assets are transferred. As a portfolio product with an emphasis on security, we plan to announce this before the browser is released.
Lastly, we will conduct auditing business mainly in Japan. We are currently proceeding in two directions, and first we plan to provide a service that adds authentication functionality for small-scale projects. This is a service that guarantees the safety of the product by certifying it with KEKKAI.
The other is a service for major companies. We are planning to audit a major company that builds wallets. We are currently working on raising the next round of funding, and our goal is to increase sales of our audit services and R&D expenses. We are also in talks with major companies regarding funding, and we hope to make an announcement soon.
▶Risk analysis using transaction simulation
▶Funding was carried out in February this year
▶ UI that allows people who cannot read codes to understand transaction details
Are you considering pivoting to the AI field or considering new use cases as you expand your business from multiple angles?
To Ma: I've been exposed to AI recently, and the product that won an award at a hackathon the other day was "AI x Web 3.0 Security." When I actually used it, I realized that AI is really useful.
I'm the type of person who actively incorporates new technology that seems useful. If there is a synergy in our business, we would like to hire them immediately. You're the type of person who wants to hire experts in that field right away. We have already applied for a grant to conduct an AI x Web3.0 security audit project.
By using AI, it is possible to improve the security of Web 3.0 more efficiently and at the same time reduce costs. The only issue is that AI security uses so-called GPT, so there are privacy issues. We believe that it is necessary to resolve this issue.
Many people think of AI and Web 3.0 as two separate fields, but I have a slightly different opinion. This is because AI is just a tool, and Web 3.0 is a concept. There is no concept of territory.
When I went to an AI-related event in the past, people suspected that I was considering a pivot, but in reality, I was there to find ways to grow or improve my current business. It's just that. No matter how far we go, I believe that AI is still a tool.
Finally, please tell us about your future prospects.
To Ma: At KEKKAI, we are working towards three main goals. The first is its development as a portal app. We aim to onboard 500 million people by incorporating more and more people into Web 3.0. We want KEKKAI to be recognized as a 100% secure "gateway" to the Web 3.0 realm.
The second is building an ecosystem that includes tokens. For example, we are also looking at developing the ``KEKKAI Network.''
The third is stock listing. As for the timeline, we will advance the token and network in two years, and then list the stock in five years. To this end, we will proceed with the necessary preparations, including legal requirements. Along with these, although the concept is different, we also plan to work on auditing business such as smart contracts for enterprises.
Personally, I am still a student, so I want to graduate from school properly (lol). I am currently on a leave of absence, but I would like to return to school once I feel that there is no problem even if I take a short break from work.
After graduating, I would like to start a new business based on what I have learned. I also have a dream of starting a VC as an individual investor. I would like to nurture and help student entrepreneurs.
◉Danny-To Ma
CEO of KEKKAI Co., Ltd. After graduating from high school, he came to Japan from China and established two companies, Unisma Co., Ltd., while attending university. In January 2023, KEKKAI Co., Ltd. will be established to provide blockchain security solutions.
◉KEKKAI Co., Ltd.
A security company in the Web 3.0 area established in 2023. Currently, we are releasing the Web3.0 security plug-in ``KEKKAI'' that can detect danger through simulation analysis of transactions, and API/SDK services that can detect NFT fraud and perform transaction simulation. In the future, we will improve the current service and release products to improve user security from various angles, contributing to improving the environment of the industry as a whole.
[HP] https://kekkai.io/
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