Seoul’s crypto moment and Nexus’s strategic milestones
Korea Blockchain Week 2025 (KBW2025) wrapped up in late September, turning Seoul into the beating heart of the global crypto scene.
The energy was unmistakable and not just hype, but a confident sense that Korea’s Web3 market is maturing fast and charting its own path.
From deep-pocketed exchanges to K-pop-infused NFT projects, the week highlighted one clear truth: Korea is building its own version of web3, one that blends culture, technology, and consumer engagement like nowhere else.
The week-long festival ran from September 22 to 28, anchored by the IMPACT conference at Walkerhill Hotel. But the real action spilled across Seoul, with hundreds of side events, meetups, and after-hours sessions filled with developers, investors, creators, and KOLs.
Compared with other global events, KBW felt less like a technical symposium and more like a go-to-market laboratory. Booths handed out merch and airdrops, speakers emphasized localization and user funnels, and attendees queued for demos instead of sitting through decks.
Korea’s market gravity
Korea is at an inflection point, moving steadily toward mass adoption — where Web3 is woven into everyday life, from shopping and gaming to remittances and media. A few key realities framed every conversation:
KRW liquidity rules the game Korean exchanges, led by Upbit and BitHumb, rank among the world’s busiest, often setting early global trading trends.
The superapp race is heating up Shortly after KBW, Naver, Korea’s dominant search and payments platform, acquired Dunamu, the operator of Upbit. This move could enable a powerful “search + social + payments + exchange” ecosystem — potentially anchored by KRW stablecoins.
Policy Is catching up Regulators are actively debating who can issue KRW-backed stablecoins. That is banks or private firms, while also exploring clearer paths for institutions to participate in crypto markets. These developments lay the foundation for on-chain payments and real-world crypto utility.
Major themes from KBW2025
1. Web3 meets K-culture
Korea’s cultural exports are its superpower. This year’s sessions leaned heavily into music, gaming, and intellectual property (IP).
The new Origin Summit brought together AI, media, and blockchain leaders to explore programmable IP rights and tokenized ownership for creative works.
Think fan-driven royalties, on-chain music licensing, and creator-controlled universes, ideas that feel perfectly native to K-pop’s fan culture.
2. Practical go-to-market strategy
As A16z’s team summarized, Korean success depends on local presence, language, and legitimacy. Projects can’t just show up with a Twitter strategy: they must speak Korean, partner with trusted KOLs, and understand the offline fan economy.
Giveaways, events, and collaborations with local platforms like Naver and Kakao aren’t optional, they’re how users discover and trust new projects.
KOLs play an especially powerful role here. They’re not just influencers; they’re trust anchors, cultural translators, and community builders who make or break a project’s credibility. Their ability to bridge global projects to local sentiment makes them indispensable in the Korean web3 market.
3. AI + blockchain synergy
AI was a recurring theme, but in a practical, grounded way.
Panels covered AI-generated content rights, on-chain provenance, and tokenized datasets for training models. The intersection of AI and blockchain is quickly becoming Korea’s next big frontier, where digital identity and intellectual property converge.
4. Policy, payments, and real-world use
While traders discussed new tokens, policymakers focused on stablecoins and compliance.
Korea’s regulators are gradually shaping frameworks that could unlock real-world crypto payments, moving beyond speculation. If KRW-denominated stablecoins are approved, they could power merchant payments, loyalty programs, and digital remittances, making crypto invisible yet indispensable in everyday transactions.
5. The power of localization
From KOLs to Kakao, success in Korea is about fitting into local ecosystems, not imposing global narratives. Western teams entering this market must rethink marketing, UX, and community strategy to resonate with Korean users. It’s a market driven by culture, credibility, and context.
Nexus at Korea Blockchain Week 2025
For Nexus, KBW2025 wasn’t just a conference — it was a pivotal moment in the lead-up to our TGE and mainnet launch.
Kicking off with our official side event, “Verifiable: AI x DeFi Networking Event,” co-hosted with Cosmostation, and joined by Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol (IBC), Story Protocol, Osmosis, Babylon, and Allora, our goals were clear: strengthen partnerships, accelerate exchange conversations, and expand our ecosystem across APAC and Cosmos.
The results exceeded expectations.
The takeaway
Korea Blockchain Week 2025 proved that Seoul is actively shaping the current crypto narrative. The country’s blend of technological sophistication, cultural capital, and retail appetite is producing a uniquely Korean model of web3, where utility, creativity, and finance collide.
For Nexus, the week marked a strategic leap forward. By strengthening alliances, advancing conversations, and expanding our ecosystem pipeline, we leave KBW2025 with renewed conviction: the next chapter of web3 in Asia will be built through collaboration, interoperability, and culture-driven innovation.
At Nexus, strategic growth is at the forefront of my mission, leveraging my expertise in building partnerships and driving business development while harnessing zk and blockchain technologies.
