ImFact today unveiled its “Blockchain Anywhere” infrastructure, enabling 6.8 billion devices—from smartphones to IoT hardware—to operate individual blockchain instances. Dubbed Personal Blockchain and On‑Device Blockchain, the rollout promises cryptographic data verification embedded directly within devices, marking a pivotal shift in trust architecture for artificial intelligence applications. The launch was showcased through Korea’s DaeguChain deployment across Daegu city and supported by a global testnet.
Personal Blockchain runs as a standalone blockchain on smartphones via mobile apps such as MyChain and Fact Stamp, allowing users to verify image authenticity, certify legal documents and complete offline transactions. In parallel, On‑Device Blockchain embeds blockchain functionality into internet-connected hardware—security cameras, autonomous vehicles, industrial sensors—assuring tamper-evident data creation at the source. Together, they integrate with ImFact’s Layer‑1 mainnet through a proprietary Station protocol.
These innovations build on six years of development and have undergone trials within DaeguChain, the civic blockchain network of Daegu city—South Korea’s fourth largest—with a population of 2.5 million. ImFact confirmed the system has proven reliable at enterprise scale. A dual‑track Testnet 2.0 currently supports more than 50,000 users across 97 countries, with participants incentivised via device mining rewards and verification incentives. The team aims to launch the Layer‑1 mainnet in Q4 2025.
Driving ImFact’s initiative is a leadership team comprising Professor Minkyu Je from KAIST—previously with Samsung—as head of hardware blockchain integration; Professor Yasin Ceran of San Jose State University and Stanford Medical School, focusing on privacy-sensitive health data verification on-device; and David Woong Jin Yoon, ex‑CEO of Gravity, steering strategic market deployment. Senior Ecosystem Builder San Jun described the development as the group’s solution to embedding blockchain functionality wherever computing power exists.
The announcement arrives against a backdrop of broader technological investment in South Korea. The government has pledged 16.1 trillion KRW over five years to boost artificial intelligence infrastructure, including data centres and GPU capacity, as outlined in a policy paper presented to the Presidential Policy Planning Committee on 18 June 2025. Key objectives include constructing AI data centres and offering open‑model development to citizens.
Industry analysts suggest that while South Korea’s blockchain strategy originated in controlled, closed networks, the growth of AI demands public and verifiable data systems. Infrastructure such as ImFact’s aligns with this strategic shift, seamlessly enabling decentralised trust within traditionally siloed environments.
ImFact positions its infrastructure as DePIN, distinct from existing offerings that rely on external validation. Instead, their data integrity is assured at the point of generation—whether it be a camera capturing footage or a sensor logging readings—with cryptographic proof to prevent tampering. The embedded nature enhances security and auditability, crucial for sectors like healthcare, autonomous vehicles, legal systems, and industrial monitoring.
While ImFact’s public roadmap outlines the L1 mainnet launch in late 2025, it is already actively engaging early adopters through Testnet 2.0. Users are deploying personal blockchain nodes on smartphones and integrating on-device blockchain chips in IoT hardware, generating token rewards and engaging in verifiable proof tasks. These early-stage validators are cultivating a nascent ecosystem that could mature rapidly ahead of commercial stage.
South Korea’s public sector stance and investment in AI and related infrastructure create a favourable landscape for projects like ImFact. The 16.1 trillion KRW policy emphasises open‑source AI models and GPU availability—initiatives that align with ImFact’s objective to offload cryptographic verification tasks to the edge of the network. The convergence of national policy and device-level trust architecture underscores an ecosystem designed to support AI at scale.
ImFact’s strategy hinges on the deployment and interoperability of three layers: personal blockchains for users, on-device blockchains for hardware, and an L1 mainnet offering global anchoring. Success depends on adoption rates of its mobile apps and IoT kits, regulatory acceptance of on-device verification for legal and medical use cases, and demonstration of clear ROI for participants in device mining.
