Asia has a growing crypto developer community w/ BUIDL Asia, APAC DAO – SlateCast #33

Crypto Soul Founder Erica Kang APAC DAO Co-Founder Nicole Nguyen Joins of crypto slate Akiba Discusses Asian Market Potential and Joint Event BUIDL Asia.

BUIDL Vietnam

Based in South Korea, KryptoSeoul is a group of cryptocurrency enthusiasts who have come together to create an ecosystem, foster growth, and support global blockchain projects. Additionally, the team provides translation, meetup, and community management services to reduce Asia’s alienation from the crypto world.

Vietnam-based APAC DAO, or Asia Pacific Decentralized Autonomous Organization, is a company of entrepreneurs and investors that helps Web3 startups flourish and grow.

Erica and Nicole’s friendship goes back several years. The two companies co-hosted her BUIDL Asia 2022 in Vietnam to bring communities together to contribute to the growth of the crypto ecosystem in Asia, a joint effort of both companies. To promote the idea of ​​spreading across the region, BUIDL Asia was held in Vietnam, making it the first conference held outside of Korea.

Erica said:

“The current Web 3 system is very small, but these activities motivate the community to grow. We want to create a space where people can actually communicate with each other.”

The event took place September 23-24 and attracted over 35 speakers, including solo talks, presentations, panel participation and workshops.

Frustration of the Asian Community

“The Asian community needs help,” Erica said. While it is much easier for crypto-loving Asians to find a place to unleash their passion, there is still a significant setback in the Asian community.

The first of them is the language barrier. Erica said that all major project documentation is released in English and contains serious problems when translated into local languages. She also runs Crypto Twitter in English, contributing to the information asymmetry in the Asian region. “This puts the Asian market back a bit in terms of speed and depth,” Erica said.

A second problem stems from the Twitter and Discord-oriented growth of the cryptocurrency community. Nicole and Erica said Facebook is the top social app in the region. The region is trying to adapt to Twitter and Discord, but remains unfamiliar to many.

Another problem arises due to the fragmented structure of the Asian crypto market. “The market is huge. But localization and local partners are very important.” Moreover, Asian culture emphasizes face-to-face contact and communication, making it difficult for global projects to enter the Asian market.

Asian market potential

After listing the setbacks, Erica and Nicole talked about the potential of the crypto space in Asia.

Erica described South Korea’s crypto community as “small in population, but great talent.” According to her, the developer community and builder market are keen to learn and apply what they’ve learned with the Web3 project.

Erica said she is trying to meet the community’s demand for education and the move to practice. she said:

“What we are trying to do is get people interested in the building industry, not just talking about price movements.”

Given the setbacks and isolation of the Asian market, Nicole turns her attention to the resourcefulness and resilience of the Asian builder community.

“…what they can do with significantly fewer resources and without relying on a centralized party to launch the project.”

In addition to the strength of the builder community, Nicole and Erica said the Asian gaming and DeFi markets are also huge, making the region potentially a good choice for test bets.