Korean Air has partnered with Swedish DePIN startup Wingbits to leverage its encrypted flight-tracking data, marking a major step in the airline’s exploration of advanced air mobility.

The research agreement provides Korean Air with access to real-time ADS-B data from Wingbits to support its ACROSS air traffic coordination system. Coverage spans Korea’s Incheon FIR, North America, and Europe, enabling the airline to study how drones, cargo aircraft, and future eVTOL taxis will share increasingly crowded skies.

Wingbits operates a decentralized network of cryptographically secured ADS-B receivers, rewarding contributors with tokens for placing hardware in high-value locations. The startup raised $5.6 million in January, led by Bullish Capital, parent company of CoinDesk.

“All of aviation relies on this data to some extent, and it’s a really big and profitable market,” said Wingbits co-founder Robin Wingårdh during Korea Blockchain Week. “It was odd that most networks offered data for free while three out of four were acquired for hundreds of millions with nothing going back to the community.”

Wingårdh emphasized that incentives set Wingbits apart from competitors:

“Proper incentives encourage people to place receivers in the right spots—on rooftops, businesses, or high-demand areas. On average, we see more than twice the coverage per antenna compared with competitors.”

For Korean Air, the collaboration addresses both current operational needs and future mobility projects. Its R&D team is exploring low-latency, secure data applications for the growing advanced air mobility segment.

“Flying taxis, flying cargo, and drones are coming, and there’s currently no infrastructure that can properly track this combination of aviation and advanced mobility,” Wingårdh said.

The partnership marks Wingbits’ first collaboration with a legacy airline, signaling growing recognition of decentralized infrastructure in mainstream aviation. The startup sees it as a milestone in moving from crypto-native hype to real-world aviation applications, with blockchain-backed networks poised to support urban air mobility in the coming years.

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