wardumb

Gaia’s Network launches this week! Thanks to @binance for supporting broader participation in decentralized AI infrastructure. $GAIA is the coordination layer for open, user-owned intelligence— coming July 30. More on utility & participation: gaianet.ai/blog/network-c…

KTV Over Offices: My Playbook for Scaling Crypto in APAC (Part 1/2) Let's be honest… in Asia, the magic rarely happens in offices and meeting rooms. They happen at 1am in a KTV booth when everyone's had 10 shots each and the person you’ve been trying to talk business with finally says “Ok, what does your project do?” Whilst Western founders perfect their pitch decks, Asian business deals get sealed over late-night dinners, in private WhatsApp / WeChat DM’s, and yes, during KTV sessions and nights at the club where your tolerance for alcohol might just secure the deal. This is part 1 of the APAC playbook nobody tells you about. My no bullshit guide to cracking seven key crypto markets across Asia. After years of building in the region, I've seen countless Western projects face-plant because they tried to copy-paste their Silicon Valley approach. So I'm breaking down exactly how to navigate China's censorship maze, tap into Vietnam's builder energy, win over Singapore's gatekeepers, penetrate Hong Kong's old-money circles, ride Korea's narrative waves, crack Malaysia's trust code, and vibe with Thailand's mobile-first communities. Got your eye on a specific partner? 👀 Drop "APAC" in the comments whilst tagging the project, and I'll try get you a warm intro from my stakeholder list of 300+ regional contacts Note: Post was inspired by @ahboyash 1. CHINA 🇨🇳 China remains a high-potential yet complex crypto market. Despite a ban, underground activity is vibrant, with $86 billion in crypto flowing through the country from mid-2022 to mid-2023 and OTC volumes exceeding $20 billion by mid-2024. The market is driven by crypto-native users and curious pragmatists seeking wealth preservation and speculative opportunities. Stablecoins like USDT dominate. User psychology divides experienced users who navigate restrictions easily, while the general public remains risk-averse. Resonant narratives include financial security, blockchain innovation, and global participation. To capture Chinese users, you must go underground but stay loud where it counts. Build stealth micro-communities on WeChat and QQ, wrap your product in "blockchain innovation" narratives, and flood early adopters with gamified rewards like airdrops, quests, and collectible NFTs. Move fast, speak their language, and make every action feel like a VIP invitation into the next big opportunity Adoption • Approx. 4.2% of population holding crypto • Top exchanges: Binance (~20% of volume is from Chinese users), OKX, HTX • Predominantly retail adoption • DeFi shows strong growth • NFTs see traction when framed as "digital collectibles" • Memecoins see speculative hype cycles • Infra protocols have limited but strategic growth Regulation • Fully illegal • No formal tax framework for crypto • Foreign crypto marketing restricted Trends • Dominant chains: Tron, Ethereum, BSC, L2s • Top use cases: Stablecoin transfers, DeFi, OTC swaps • Popular wallets: MetaMask, imToken, TokenPocket • High-frequency behaviours: CNY → USDT OTC → DeFi, and airdrop farming • Fiat on/off ramps rely on OTC desks and private brokers • Popular narratives: Yield farming, airdrop farming • Most active users: Retail traders, degens, airdrop hunters • Sentiment: Primarily yield-maxi, secondarily anti-establishment and pro-privacy Exchanges @binance, @OKX, @HTX_Global (Huobi), @gate_io, @Bybit_Official VC / Funds @fenbushi, @CsquaredVC, @SevenXVentures, @DFG__official KOLs / Agencies @Cipher_Dance, @iamyourchaos, @snow949494, @Elabs_crypto, @EnHeng456 Community Groups @ETHPanda_Org, @see_dao Events @EthereumSH Media @panews, @JinseFinance, @bwenews, @TechFlowPost, @ChainCatcher_, @Foresight_News, @OdailyChina, @BlockBeatsAsia, @BiteyeCN

@MothershipSG Definitely sounds like he went there himself and want to avoid getting charged for scamming

M'sian man travels to Ipoh to meet woman, gets kidnapped to work in Laos scam centre bit.ly/4hq2Zwv

@mariacorli Lfg!!!!

I embarked on this project because I believe that microbiome science holds incredible potential, but breakthroughs remain locked in academia or behind closed doors. MicrobiomeDAO is here to change that! I'm excited about one of our first big moves ⬇️ More's cooking. Stay tuned!

@lifeofbitcoin U playing basketball ??

There's something about 2025... 🍳 RISE FROM THE ASHES 🐦‍🔥 - making major progress in beating my chronic lip-biting addiction (the best method is mindfulness) - playing a ton of padel 🎾, softball 🥎 and basketball 🏀 - new friends & life opportunities - CLEAR BRAIN 🧠 🚀

Tomorrow, we're back live!!❤️‍🔥 Join us for our livestream as @blockflowlabs shares how developers can leverage their CCTP Explorer API to enhance efficiency, transparency, and insights. 🗓️ 11/26 🕐 9am ET

This was ETHGlobal Bangkok 2024! Our biggest event EVER. 💻 2750+ attendees 🌏 86 countries 🧩 713 projects 🏆 10 finalists Enjoy our recap video below 👇🏼

66 project pitches by hackers putting in max work for 2.5 days - we’re all done! Thanks @NickyKang0 for the sick photos. 🤙🤙 @TxnSheng @corey__cooper @alokikbhasin

@francescoswiss @TxnSheng @circle @ETHGlobal @mettahead Haha it’s @AceTCG_xyz ! The magic of web3 fs

@TxnSheng @circle @ETHGlobal @mettahead @_wardumb Is this Magic?

So... I just had the coolest encounter at the @circle booth during the @ETHGlobal hackathon. Met this awesome artist @mettahead (Colton), who made this customised art card just for Circle. Honestly, I wanted to keep it for myself, but since Ian @_wardumb found Colton first, I'm passing down this legendary card to him. Big shoutout to Colton for his talent and dedication. Let's keep supporting our amazing artists 🫶

Nostalgia is a powerful feeling.. @AceTCG_xyz bringing back memories of playing trading cards. This is literally burning🔥ESPECIALLY @BuildOnCircle shoutout AND it’s NFC tagged. So so sooo many possibilities for the game in this integrated tag. Cannot wait, based.

@naruto11eth 90% of that 😂 you’re on point. Missing the “i spent 1 hour in a grab” and “why don’t you try bike?”

Devcon convo recap in one tweet: "So when did you arrive" "How long are you here?" "Any plans after devcon? Chiang Mai? Phuket?" "Let's do a 1:1 coffee chat this week" "How's the testnet/mainnet coming along?" "Bullrun is here" "bitcoin to 100k" "Namechain is new L2" "Uniday was great" "Did you get a thai massage?" "bro i just changed my job bro, it was a great opportunity" "we are launching our testnet/mainnet very soon bro" "bro im dead bro from all these side events"

50+ hacks attended and the passion and talent from hackers never fail to rub off on me. One day one day I’ll be on the other side. Looking forward to cool ideas @BuildOnCircle @TxnSheng @corey__cooper @alokikbhasin

Oh that’s a lot of people @ETHGlobal ready? @TxnSheng

Set up done ✅ I heard that it’s the largest @ETHGlobal yet in 🇹🇭 Let’s see let’s see @TxnSheng @corey__cooper @BuildOnCircle

Can’t believe @JamboTechnology pulled off this 🔥 run in 🇹🇭. Nearly burst my lungs and burnt off the ABV When 🐶🏀 DAO? #Devcon2024 #DevconBangkok

@TxnSheng @BuildOnCircle @ETHGlobal @corey__cooper

Build on Circle. Come find us at ETHGlobal near the entrance! @BuildOnCircle @ETHGlobal @_wardumb @corey__cooper

@circle ProDev Showcase Day was a wrap 🔥🔥 2 week hack 30+ dev shops / studios 6 finalists appreciative of teams flying down to pitch and showcase how their enterprise grade solutions @BuildOnCircle 🤙🤙 Look forward to the winner announcements!