With a fully functional product in hand and a loyal community of early adopters and investors supporting us, we embarked on a week-long roadshow to Seoul, the city of kimchi, K-Pop, and crypto.
The trip took us to some of the best conferences we have seen to-date. We were privileged to sponsor the Beyond Blocks Summit, speak at multiple demo days, attend private investor dinners and parties, host media sessions, and meet with a vibrant local community of partners, investors, and early users. Without further ado, here are some highlights and takeaways from our trip to South Korea’s Blockchain Week:
I. Our schedule
- Beyond Blocks Summit Seoul, July 17–18
- VIP Launch Party, July 17
- DNA Investor Lunch, July 19
- Hashed Night, July 19
II. The Seoul contingent
- David Bleznak, CEO
- Jordan Lyall, CPO
- Alex Topchishvili, CMO
III. South Korea is a critical market for Totle
First, some context: South Korea is a country well accustomed to disruption and technological adoption. Its people have lived through the late 90’s Asian Financial Crisis, the Global Financial Crisis a decade later, and impeached their own president in 2017. This has created a market of investors, traders, and technologists less reluctant to replace old systems with new ones. Not to mention, the country has one of the highest penetration rates for personal computers, smartphones, wireless internet infrastructure, and gaming in the world.
The Totle booth saw non-stop action throughout the 2-day Beyond Blocks Summit, with a wide array of local and international crypto investors, traders, media, and enthusiasts stopping by our booth to see our product and discuss synergies. We were thoroughly impressed by the depth of knowledge and sophistication exhibited by the Koreans that came by our booth. The locals were well versed in concepts like decentralized trading, interoperability, and peer-to-peer exchanges, leading to many productive conversations.
IV. Press coverage
The local and international media was super receptive to our story, with multiple print and video interviews taking place at the Beyond Blocks Summit. We sat down with journalists from CoinCentral, ICO Crowd, The News.Asia, Blokt, and BitGosu. Expect some coverage from these channels soon!
In the meantime, check out our latest media coverage:
V. The decline in crypto prices is maturing the market
The market downturn in 2018 separates those interested inherently in blockchain technology and those interested in making a quick buck. While the price decline may not be a positive, it allows the market to mature and the serious players to double down on creating real products and businesses that will dominate in the near future. The bear market gets rid of the people who are in it for the wrong reasons. At Totle, we are using this time to build a strong foundation so we can thrive in the next growth cycle.
VI. Great UX will drive mass adoption
The need to bring the mainstream public to the crypto sphere, while acknowledged by all, does not require them to have a deep understanding of the underlying technology.
The consensus at all the events we’ve attended was that current products bring out too many technicalities and processes to the end user, which hurts adoption and usability. After all, not all people using credit cards understand how they work, and not all people using cell phones understand what processors and semiconductors were used to make them. Usability, trust, and transparency will drive growth and adoption more than anything, which further validates our mission.
Overall, the feedback and interaction at Korea Blockchain Week was overwhelmingly positive from any standpoint, and for that we are thankful.
