Three years ago, Myosin barely registered at Korea Blockchain Week. A couple of meetings, a scrappy dinner, and a lot of conviction that decentralized marketing wasn’t a joke. This year, we weren’t orbiting anymore, we were in the bloodstream.

Seoul in September always hits different. Perfect weather, nonstop events, familiar faces from every corner of the industry. But KBW isn’t just another stop on the calendar anymore. For us, it’s become a marker. A checkpoint. A mirror of how far we and the space itself have come.

Back when we started Myosin it was deep bear market energy. Crypto was stuck between hype hangovers and survival mode. Marketing was treated like a meme: everyone wanted growth, nobody wanted to admit they needed narrative. We were just there to test if our model could survive.

A year later, the scene and our role in it had shifted. KBW was louder, more global, more serious. Myosin showed up with a bigger footprint, a few early clients, and a sharper point of view. We weren’t just running experiments anymore, we were proving them. Panels stopped asking what Myosin was and started asking how we were pulling it off. For the first time, we weren’t outsiders trying to crash the party, we were part of the conversation.

And then came this year. KBW 2025 wasn’t about showing up, it was about shaping the flow. Our week was stacked: activations with Across Protocol, Succinct, Stellar, and Cookie3. 

Our own event, Marketers in the Arena, where we called bullshit on bad tactics and dropped high-alpha takes on what actually works. And the culture side was just as loud: MemeCore renting out Lotte World and turning it into Disneyland for 5,000 degens. Boiler Bang, a Boiler Room rave inside a Korean sauna, running till sunrise. Baseball games, KOL dinners, late-night Apgujeong afters. We weren’t on the margins of KBW anymore. We were in its bloodstream.

That’s the real story: not just what happened this year, but how three KBWs chart the same arc Myosin and the whole industry has been on. From niche experiments in the shadows, to proof points and survival in the middle, to full execution mode today, where institutions, startups, and culture all converge.

As We Grew, So Did Crypto

Just as Myosin’s presence at KBW grew from barely-there experiments to full-on execution, the industry itself has followed the same arc. In the early days, crypto was defined by hype and tight-knit insiders. The belief was raw, but so were the tactics: launch a token, spin up a Discord, ride the meme wave. It worked for attention, but not for durability.

Then came the grind. Markets crashed, projects folded, and the survivors had to figure out if there was more to this than speculation. Narratives tightened. Builders got serious. Stablecoins started proving themselves. RWAs crept from whitepapers into pilot projects. Communities learned the difference between noise and signal. It was the same for us, finding the message that resonated, showing proof, building in public through the downturn.

Now we’re here. KBW this year wasn’t just a bigger event, it was a different event. Institutions and crypto natives weren’t circling each other, they were at the same tables. RWAs and cross-border flows weren’t panels about “potential use cases” but actual stories. AI and crypto weren’t sci-fi thought experiments, they were product roadmaps. Culture was fully evident in the thousands of people renting out amusement parks, packing afterparties, and building the kinds of bonds that no bear market can shake.

Source: https://x.com/jamesrichardfry/status/1971075556763631866/photo/1

The arc is clear: from hype → survival → adoption. And crypto marketing has grown up along the way. The gimmicks that carried early cycles don’t land anymore. What works now is narrative with teeth, positioning with clarity, and execution that cuts across both native and mainstream audiences.

Signals from Seoul

This year’s KBW put it plainly: we’ve crossed the line. Institutions and crypto natives are finally speaking the same language. RWAs, stablecoins, and cross-border flows aren’t panel chatter, they’re live working systems. AI and crypto are fusing into an emerging stack. And communities are showing up IRL, turning culture into the carrier wave of adoption.

KBW isn’t just another week on the calendar. It’s proof that we’ve moved from experiment → operation → presence. Proof that crypto is moving from niche → hype cycle → real impact on the future of finance.

And for Myosin, it’s a reminder of our role in this shift: building the systems, narratives, and culture that make mainstream adoption not just possible, but inevitable.

Prices might be flat, but the vibes were vertical. Seoul was bullish. And if this year is the preview, the next three will flip the script entirely. Onwards and upwards.