Jdot

Jdot describes something in this clip most western teams underrate. In fragmented cultures, attention scatters across subcultures. In Korea, attention converges. Two consequences a founder should know: > The same person moves across verticals. The trader buying on your perp dex this month was into NFTs last month, and will be in something else soon. > When the room turns toward a category, it turns as a group. When it turns away, it turns away as a group. The projects still holding attention afterward are the ones that built something the room remembers. The question for any project looking at Korea isn't whether the wave exists. It's what you've built that survives the next one.

@0xYano Was actually a big deal

A Korean creator's audience lost money on a project's weak airdrop. So the project was forced to reimburse them. That kind of accountability doesn't exist anywhere else in crypto. When a creator vouches for you in Korea, their reputation is the collateral.

@0xYano Fomo runs wider too

Founders enter Korea thinking they're targeting one niche. They're targeting the whole market. Everywhere else, crypto audiences silo. In Korea the same person farms, mints, and trades perps in the same month. Wider market than you think. Not narrower.

@0xYano well said

Money, time, and effort. The 3 currencies in Korea market entry. > Money buys coverage - founders have this one > Time buys presence - founders agree with this in principle and don't spend it > Effort buys trust - founders don't know how to spend this at all > Failed campaigns spent only money > Single-currency strategy is purely budget allocation, the market sees it this way too > The two missing currencies are what your audience actually reads

Always wondered what was behind all the excitement in Korea around crypto. Was cool to get into the weeds on this on my recent conversation with @JdotHamilton from @HoloHive_ on Proof of Story on how Korean culture shapes crypto adoption. Kinda similar to Brazil, people are naturally open to new opportunities, and when combined with a unified culture, it kinda spreads faster than other places. Good reason to keep the focus there. Stay tuned for another IRL visit to Seoul. Check out the full podcast now over on @ProofOfStory.

@0xYano Good way to think about it

There are three currencies in Korean market entry. Money, time, and effort. 1. Money buys coverage. Founders have this one. 2. Time buys presence. Founders agree with this in principle and don't spend it. 3. Effort buys trust. Founders don't know how to spend this at all. Most failed Korean campaigns spent only money. The two missing currencies are what the audience actually reads. A single-currency Korean strategy is a budget allocation. The market reads it that way too.

@0xYano TG > X

The Korean creator you're paying for X coverage probably has a more important channel you're not accessing. Most western founders learn about Korean creators through their X accounts. The follower count is public, the engagement is measurable, the negotiation is straightforward. So that's what gets bought. The same creator usually runs a Telegram channel for their Korean audience. That's where they share research, post the takes they wouldn't put in public, connect Korean retail to projects, and brief the English speaking corner of the Korean market that doesn't show up on X. It's where their real influence lives because it's where they treat their audience as readers instead of viewers. This is why a lot of Korean campaigns produce strong X impression reports and almost no Korean conviction. The budget reaches the visible side of the creator. The decisions form on the other side. X coverage still has value. When a creator has genuine X presence, layering it on top of the Telegram work compounds the reach and supports your reporting. The mistake is treating it as the lead. At the relationship-building stage, it does what an ad campaign does. It doesn't do what a trusted source does. If you're evaluating a Korean creator, stop asking about follower counts. Ask where their Korean audience actually hears from them, what gets discussed there, and whether your project would have a place in that conversation. The answer is what you're actually paying for.

@0xYano We can get you listed with a team that cant get you listed on upbit

"We can get you listed on Upbit." The fastest red flag in korean crypto. No agency controls a listing decision. Anyone selling you that outcome is selling something they don't own. If they promise it, run.

@0xYano never been more important to build the local layer

Bithumb launched its own telegram in late 2025. Korean exchanges are inside tier-one channels they used to monitor from the outside. What's now said about your project there is what they see when they evaluate you. Check the last 30 days. If you can't name three mentions, neither can they.

@0xYano The best is when the project compares X to TG CPMs

The reason your korean x engagement looks great but produces no real users: You're measuring on the wrong platform. > Telegram view = user joined the channel and opened the post on purpose > X impression = post scrolled past someone's feed for one second A telegram view in korea is worth roughly 10x an x impression. Measure on telegram or stop trusting your campaign numbers.

@0xYano Factual statements

Week one of a Korean campaign: > Don't push product > Don't run a giveaway > Don't optimize for conversion Prove you didn't disappear. The Korean audience filed your brand away six months ago. They're waiting to see if this time is different.

@0xYano Only up

A project started running Korea with ~30 organic mentions across all Korean channels. Every one of them was price speculation or farming. 7 weeks later: > 1200x mindshare increase in tier one Korean channels exchanges monitor > Conversation moved from price talk to how the chain actually works > KOLs holding tokens and using the product on-chain. Wallets are public. Go check. > Client stopped asking how the launch was going. Started asking how to go deeper in Korea. Those who decide what matters are now talking about this project. Renting attention can't do this. Earning the right to be discussed can.

@0xYano More than any other

In markets where attention is bought, you can rent volume. In markets where signal is private and loyalty is high, you have to earn the right to be discussed. Korea is the second kind. More than any other market.

@0xYano "The engagement looks great" 💀

The 5 stages of a western team running Korea: 1. "Korea has massive trading volume" 2. "We'll just run some kols" 3. "The engagement looks great" 4. "The listing should fix it" 5. (video)

Me on the founder's call after they tell me they want to "just run kols and see what happens"

@0xYano Lets go!

Big day for Venice. One of the most legitimate products in crypto for years now. Congrats to the team. Well deserved.

@grebby Greb!

@JdotHamilton my korean quants

Most campaigns in Korea only reward the top traders. Leaderboard, payout, done. Drive total participation by rewarding 4 different people: > The Best Trader > The Luckiest Entrant > The Best Creator > The Person Who Just Showed Up Each pulls in someone the others miss.