Exilist’s Secret to Building Trust in Korea’s Crypto Scene
In Brief
In this interview, Exilist CEO Lily Park reveals how her company helps global Web3 projects navigate Korea’s uniquely active yet cautious crypto market by bridging hype and trust through culturally tailored community strategies.
Despite Korea’s reputation for cautious adoption, even politicians and older generations are actively trading crypto, an insight that highlights the country’s unique Web3 market. In this interview, Lily Park, CEO and co-founder of Exilist, shares her journey from discovering blockchain in 2017 to founding a firm that helps global projects navigate the Korean market.
She discusses how Exilist bridges the gap between hype and trust, builds strong communities, and adapts international strategies to fit local culture, offering a rare inside look at Korea’s evolving crypto and Web3 ecosystem.
Firstly, Lily, could you please introduce yourself and share your path to Web3?
Yes, so I’m Lily. I’m the CEO and co-founder of Exilist, and my journey began back in 2017. One of my previous co-workers introduced me to CoinOne, which was at that time one of the top two or three crypto exchanges in Korea. I worked there for about three years. Back then, I didn’t know anything about blockchain.
I had no understanding of Ethereum, Bitcoin, or the technology, but during my time at CoinOne, I became very interested in the blockchain industry. I worked as a corporate account management lead and had the chance to work with many global market makers as well as product teams trying to list, or already listed, on CoinOne.
After that, I moved to a GTM PR firm based in the China region. I worked there for about two and a half years as a partnership director, which gave me more opportunities to interact with foreign product teams. I noticed that many foreign projects, mostly US- or Europe-based, had difficulties entering the Asian market. That experience inspired me to found Exilist, and here I am.
What inspired the founding of Exilist? What gap in the market does it aim to fill?
We started from a very simple idea. The crypto market was growing so fast, but good information and long-term perspectives were missing. Most marketing at the time was about short-term hype. Back in 2021–2022, many projects were experiencing 20x or 100x growth, and everyone was caught up in the hype. Very few people tried to understand why certain projects earned trust and maintained it.
We saw a gap between data and storytelling, between what investors saw and what the community felt. Exilist was built to connect those dots. We combine research, storytelling, and community marketing to help global projects enter the Korean market in a smarter, more sustainable way. For us, crypto isn’t just about price or speculation; it’s about real value. We aim to help people understand that clearly.
How does Exilist measure success in its marketing and investment initiatives?
We measure success in two dimensions: performance and perception. Performance includes tangible metrics like community growth, engagement, SEO visibility, and media reach. But what truly defines success for us is perception change, helping projects rebuild or strengthen trust in the Korean market.
For example, we once worked with a project that faced difficulties after its token launch. The price dropped sharply, and community trust declined, even though it wasn’t the team’s fault. Our role was to communicate transparently, highlight the team’s efforts and technical progress, and maintain consistent engagement with users.
After these activities, a community survey showed that most Korean users believed the team had handled the situation responsibly and had regained credibility. That kind of transformation is what we aim for, not just increasing community size.
Do you see the Korean market overall open to Web3?
Korea is a unique market. People from outside might see it as closed due to language barriers and cultural or regulatory differences, but that’s not entirely true. Even older Koreans, in their 40s and 50s, are very open to crypto investment. The trading volume they handle is significant, and despite regulatory warnings or political discussions about taxes or bans, they actively trade.
I wouldn’t say Koreans fully understand Web3 yet, but they are open to technologies that can help them adapt and potentially earn returns. So the market is receptive, but it’s also cautious and thoughtful.
What initiatives does Exilist have to build or strengthen the local crypto and Web3 community?
We focus on building communities among the Web3 audience. In Korea, there are Web2 and Web3 audiences, and we primarily target the Web3 segment through Telegram. We localize communication, manage daily engagement, and ensure users feel the project genuinely cares about the Korean market. We also partner with KOLs for AMAs, collaborations, and offline meetups.
Even in bear markets, we help projects maintain active communities to preserve trust and consistency. We’re now exploring ways to connect Web3 with Web2 audiences, including older age groups, to expand further.
Could you tell us more about the events you organize? What has been the most successful event?
We organize events during KBW seasons and outside them as well. KBW seasons are a great opportunity to raise awareness. For example, we collaborated with a top-tier project during a KBW side event. We managed everything from venue rental to decoration, brand videos, and follow-up recaps. We also engaged KOLs to help spread awareness. The event helped build a strong brand presence and maintain engagement even after the event ended.
How do you ensure organic growth for your clients in the Korean market?
The key is to speak in the language of each community. Upbit, Korea’s leading exchange, has over 12 million cumulative users, reflecting a wide demographic range. This means Korean investors are active across a broad spectrum of platforms and communities — not only Telegram and Twitter, but also KakaoTalk open chats, Naver Cafe, DCInside, Blind, Instagram, and Threads.
Exilist localizes content to fit each platform’s culture, tone, and visual style. When users feel like ‘this isn’t an ad from a foreign project, but our community’s own story,’ that’s when trust is built — and that trust leads to organic growth.
How do you foresee the evolution of Korea’s crypto and Web3 markets over the next five years?
I’ve been in the industry for over eight years, and while people often say the market is maturing, I think there’s still a long way to go. The good news is that more professionals from finance and tech are joining Web3, which helps the ecosystem evolve.
Regulation in Korea is still developing, but awareness is rising. The challenge is moving beyond short-term speculation toward long-term education and project development. Korean traders are already world-class, and liquidity is strong, but at the project level, there’s still room for growth. I hope to see a truly global Web3 project emerge from Korea in the next five years. Policy and regulation will likely become clearer, and as more institutional players join, the market will become more structured, responsible, and sustainable.
What emerging technologies or trends is Exilist most excited about right now?
We are very excited about AI. We’re exploring how AI can enhance efficiency and creativity for Web3 projects in communicating with Korean users. This includes proposal generation, KOL matching, campaign analysis, and reporting.
We’re also inspired by Web2 industries like food franchises and hotels. By analyzing how they build loyalty and brand experience, we adapt these strategies to Web3 so foreign projects can offer better brand experiences in Korea.
How does Exilist balance short-term marketing campaigns with long-term brand building?
Exilist’s strategy focuses on building long-term trust and narrative consistency while running short-term actions that deliver measurable results. The approach varies depending on each project’s stage and objective — whether it’s preparing for TGE, building product use cases, growing a community, or repositioning the brand narrative.
Ultimately, sustainable success relies on continuous communication, trust, and education within the community. Exilist delivers the project’s vision clearly to users while tracking community feedback and sentiment. By establishing a two-way communication loop, we achieve both short-term milestones and long-term brand credibility. Short-term campaigns serve as strategic tools to capture attention and engagement, while long-term branding weaves those tools together into lasting trust.
What’s the company’s approach to entering new markets outside of Korea?
Local teams always understand their markets best, and that’s how we operate in Korea. For other regions, we collaborate with strong local partners who have deep connections and credibility. Instead of running everything ourselves, we align our data-driven marketing framework with the local expertise of partners.
As we expand, we plan to hire local talent to learn directly from them and understand each region’s audience, communication style, and market behavior. That’s our approach to new markets.
Disclaimer
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About The Author
Victoria is a writer on a variety of technology topics including Web3.0, AI and cryptocurrencies. Her extensive experience allows her to write insightful articles for the wider audience.
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Victoria is a writer on a variety of technology topics including Web3.0, AI and cryptocurrencies. Her extensive experience allows her to write insightful articles for the wider audience.
