Nexon launches ‘MapleStory Universe’… Will it be a turning point for innovation in Web3 gaming?

Nexon's representative IP 'MapleStory' has made a new appearance as the blockchain game 'MapleStory Universe (MSU)' on May 15.

In the third week of May 2025, the virtual asset market showed a slight increase, with certain items displaying a strong upward trend. Bitcoin closed at $103,749, up 0.5% from the previous week, effectively moving within a range, while Ethereum surged 15.5% to reach $2,548.

The surge in Ethereum's price was largely attributed to Vitalik Buterin's noted need to simplify Ethereum's design and express its direction more clearly, and the fact that the Pektra upgrade served as a bounce trigger against excessive declines, improving supply and demand for the token.

This week, the U.S. April Consumer Price Index (CPI) announcement and the U.S.-China tariff reductions were in the spotlight. The CPI rose 2.3% compared to the same period last year, coming in slightly lower than expectations (2.4%) and marking the lowest level of deceleration since February 2021.

President Trump, immediately after the CPI announcement, said, "There is no inflation," again pressuring the Federal Reserve for interest rate cuts. The market interpreted this as a relief of the Federal Reserve's tightening burden and reacted positively to risk assets overall.

However, some experts point out that the actual impact of tariff increases has yet to be fully realized, and a "cautious optimism" is still required at this point. Additionally, the Geneva talks resulted in an agreement between the U.S. and China to temporarily reduce each other's high tariffs for 90 days, which alleviated trade risks.

Nevertheless, key assets, including Bitcoin, appeared to have already priced in this expectation, leading to only a slight increase in prices.

◇ Nexon launches ‘MapleStory Universe’... Will it be a turning point for innovation in Web3 gaming?

Nexon's representative IP 'MapleStory' has made a new appearance as the blockchain game 'MapleStory Universe (MSU)' on May 15. MSU is designed to issue items as NFTs for free trading, featuring a sophisticated economic structure centered on the in-game currency Nesos ($NESO) and governance token $NXPC, which includes the supply of scarce items, demand-based pricing, and a fixed exchange rate system. $NXPC is also listed on major exchanges such as Binance, Upbit, and Bithumb, attracting interest from the market.

MSU aims to directly tackle the problems of traditional Web3 games, such as the collapse of tokenomics, excessive inflation, and a lack of content. By distributing 97% of the total tokens to the community and providing an SDK that allows users to create content and receive rewards, it aims to realize a community-led IP expansion structure. The 'basket system' for trading items in bundles and the fixed exchange rate structure between $NXPC and $NESO are regarded as a tokenomics design to maintain both liquidity and value.

Furthermore, MSU has generated expectations for seamlessly connecting the strong fandom and content production capabilities of the existing MapleStory IP to the Web3 system. However, there are still significant challenges, such as service restrictions in some areas, including domestic regions, and issues with bots, leading to focused interest in future operational directions.

◇ Paul Atkins, SEC Chairperson: “On-chain asset transition is inevitable... Complete overhaul of issuance, custody, and transaction”

Paul Atkins, Chairperson of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announced a new policy direction for the virtual asset market at the fourth crypto regulatory roundtable.

The meeting was held under the theme of "the arrival of the on-chain asset era", and Atkins likened the economic potential of tokenized securities to the emergence of the digital music industry. "We will work on regulatory revisions to make the U.S. the world's leading digital asset market," he added.

The SEC outlined specific improvement directions in three key areas: reform of issuance forms, easing of custody regulations, and innovation of transaction structures.

Specifically regarding issuance, the SEC determined that existing securities registration forms like Form S-1 are unsuitable for virtual assets and announced plans to establish dedicated registration forms and exemption systems.

In the custody sector, it mentioned plans to abolish the much-debated accounting regulation (SAB 121) and to lower industry entry barriers through the refinement of self-custody and specialized broker-dealer systems.

For transactions, it is also considering the introduction of a 'super app' model that enables the integrated trading of securities and non-securities, along with regulatory revisions of Alternative Trading Systems (ATS).

Chairperson Atkins emphasized, "We will not stifle innovation through regulation as in the past," highlighting the need to establish a reasonable regulatory framework that can encompass the issuance, custody, and transaction of digital assets within the existing system.

This announcement is significant in that it could serve as a turning point for the U.S. crypto market to leap forward again on