Erica Kang, CEO of KryptoSeoul, on Crypto in Asia and Bridging the Gap Between the West & the East | Ep. 266

In an exclusive interview with cryptonews.com, Erica Kang, CEO and Founder of KryptoSeoul, talks about community-building spirit, crypto in Asia, and bridging the gap between the East and the West. 

About Erica Kang

Erica Kang is the CEO and Founder of KryptoSeoul, a leading community-building team in South Korea. She leads the KryptoSeoul team to organize BUIDL Asia, the first Asian community-driven crypto conference. Having earned her Masters in International Policy Studies at Stanford, Erica previously served at the Korea Blockchain Association as an advisor.

Erica Kang gave a wide-ranging exclusive interview, which you can see below, and we are happy for you to use it for publication, provided there is a credit to www.cryptonews.com. 

Highlights Of The Interview

• Asia is a powerhouse for crypto: The continent owes its success to a nurturing regulatory environment and value proposition-driven crypto culture.
• Bridging the gap: Crypto communities located in the West and East need to collaborate more to drive innovation which can lead to the widespread adoption of crypto.
• Shine the spotlight: How events like BUIDL Asia provide a global stage in the heart of Asia to highlight contemporary builders, innovations, and solutions.
• Community building spirit: Community lies at the heart of crypto and web3, BUIDL Asia is setting the standard for crypto community events in Asia
• KryptoSeoul: a premiere crypto conference in South Korea

Full Transcript Of The Interview

Matt Zahab 
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Cryptonews Podcast. We are buzzing as always. And today we have the one and only, Erica Kang, on the show, CEO and Founder of KryptoSeoul, a leading community-building team in South Korea. Erica leads the KryptoSeoul team to organize BUIDL Asia that is built with the Crypto Spelling, BUIDL Asia, the first Asian community-driven crypto conference. Erica also earned her master's in international policy studies at the one and only Stanford University ever heard of it. And Erica previously served as the Korea Blockchain Association as an advisor. Erica, pumped to have you on. It's been a hot minute. We finally got you on. Welcome to the show. How are you doing? 

Erica Kang 
Hi Matt, great to be here. Thanks for having me. Doing very well. 

Matt Zahab 
I love that. Great to have you on as well. You are currently in Singapore for Token2049. What is that like? I'd love to get over to that neck of the woods. Is it as good as everyone says it is? 

Erica Kang 
Yeah, I mean, actually, it kind of reminds me back to the 20, like, 2020, 2019 days where I was very, like, hyped up. Everyone was excited. And I think it's just kind of gives me nostalgia. So I just feel really happy to be back. And you can see every type of team here possible. And so East meets West, definitely. I can see, like, people from the West coming over, from, of course, like Asians all over as well. So it's a really nice mix. And so that kind of is a lot of noise, I mean, good and bad. But I mean, I think it's great to have that buzz and everyone's energized. So it's really good to have, you know, this all this energy. 

Matt Zahab 
The last couple of years, crypto conferences, it has not been the same. I missed the 2020, 2021 bull market days when you could feel the palpable energy. You know what I mean? I feel like that's been sort of non-existent the last year and a half at crypto conferences. Been getting better, mind you, but it's good to see that the electric factory and crypto conferences is finally sort of back. 

Erica Kang 
And I think a lot of teams from the West, for example, I don't want to distinguish like this West and East, but it's very global as much. But then, you know, people who are mainly based in the Western hemisphere, for example, I think a lot of teams feel the need to jump into Asian markets more so these days. So I think it's really interesting to see that kind of a move. And so, yeah, it's very energizing to be here. 

Matt Zahab 
That's a great theme that you brought up and I do want to jump into sort of how we can bridge the gap between the east and the west And obviously there's such a need from everyone in the west wanting to do crypto with people from the East for obvious reasons and we'll get into that. But before we do I would love to learn a little bit more about Erica the star of the show. Obviously looking at your bio you did your masters at Stanford that must have been a treat in half I got the absolute pleasure to tour Stanford a couple years ago What a campus? I mean like just outer-worldly for anyone who's never been there definitely go take a tour. But tell me a little bit about yourself before you got into crypto. What did you do and why did you make the jump over to the big bad Web3? 

Erica Kang 
Yes, it was quite a story. I mean, it's pretty random too. I think everyone has that kind of jump into the crypto, that kind of a story, very wild. So before I came into crypto, My first job in after graduating college was in banking. So I was an investment banker as MNA analyst. So that kind of led me into finance and I worked in trading as well for a few months. And I thought, okay, maybe I should do more studies before like jumping into my real career. So I pursued a degree in masters at Stanford, majoring in international policy, because my undergrad was in international relations. So I was doing more political economy focused. So I mean, kind of integrating finance because I was from finance for a little bit. And so I wanted to study more financial crises, basically like the downfall of the, in the current banking system. So back then, so I think it was very, this is kind of interesting narrative leading to crypto, if I think back, right? And so yeah, I wanted to do more studies. So I was actually pursuing an academia career. So I was to kind of do a PhD in political science. And then somehow like personal reasons, whatever reasons I got, okay, I decided to go back to Korea and do some actual corporate work. So I got hired by Korea Telecom, which is one of the big three telecom communications companies in Korea. And it's very heavily government run. And so I was in the strategy team, I was the CEO, and which was a very good privilege to be learning about the corporate culture, also to learn the top down approach of like a typical Korean conglomerate company. So it was a very interesting experience. I think I got to learn like the Korean, like traditional corporate culture, which is great. I mean, I think it kind of gave me a really nice perspective on the local culture. And then I just kind of felt, okay, well, I did all the conservative careers, I think, the traditional like structured system. So I felt, okay, before I get older, maybe I should do something more adventurous and something more like challenging, more inspiring. So I was actually thinking of doing something in education, like educational startups back in the day, because I'm passionate about education in general. And so I was looking at other fields in like the tech, because tech fields are usually very dynamic, very challenging. So I was looking into some friends in tech and getting some advice from them. And surprisingly, I found a friend who recommended me to a seminar back in early 2017, I think it was March. And so he was like, okay, well, if you want some inspiration, why don't you join this like rare seminar that I had invited to, and this was a crypto seminar, very rare back then. It barely existed. So I was like, okay, maybe I'll just pay a hundred bucks and just see how it is. So I went there and I got really like, it was an eye-opening experience, honestly. I was like, okay, I don't understand any of this, but it sounds interesting. And I met during the networking session, I met all the speakers and basically the founders who were trying to do like the ICO back then. And yeah, I think they did a aggressive ICO following in the following months. But technically I had to meet the entire scene of Korean crypto, very small back then, but I got to meet all the founders, builders, and so that kind of got me plugged in. And they wanted to hire me as like, they're CMO and that kind of thing. So I didn't take the job, but I got to learn more about it and got more plugged into the space there. So that's how I got kind of trickled into the arbitral. 

Matt Zahab 
And the rest is history. One of the main topics of the show that I'd love to really put a hammer into is Asia being a powerhouse for crypto. Obviously, with the massive population, the micro and macro economic impacts of crypto booming in Asia, it's incredible for the whole world. We need this to happen. You are living in Asia, you run massive crypto conferences in Asia. If anyone were an expert on crypto in Asia, it would definitely be you. What are some of the themes we're seeing right now, some of the trends, just the momentum as a whole? What's going on in crypto in Asia as a whole at the moment? 

Erica Kang 
It's a very grand question because Asia cannot be generalized as a whole. First of all, there's many differences in Asian regions. And I lived in Seoul for more than most of my life. And also I lived in Richmond City, Vietnam, for two years. So I think I'm most plugged in those ecosystems. Just kind of looking generally on the Asia aspect, I really think due to the US regulations, the things that are happening on the other side of the world, I think a lot of the interest has been coming to Asia in general. And I think Asia has been always buzzing. It's just a matter of how the regulations have been shaping. I mean, some regulations are very fuzzy at the moment, even so. Even South Korea is still very, you know, it's still nascent, it's still in the making. And I think tax-related issues is becoming a little solid. But then I think other things are just still in the making. But Hong Kong is much more clear. But I think in general, regulations are being shaped. And also users, I think the sheer population of Asia, like the growing population of Southeast Asian regions, is definitely a big contributing factor to the potential of growth of crypto in Asia. Because I think the younger population and the growing population, the need to learn and also to openness to innovative technologies, I think that whole mentality is just there by default. And I think it's really important to test the waters in Asia, basically. People are eager to try new things and people are eager to invest in new things. And I think South Korea, for example, I think the mature economy of South Korea has kind of made the younger generation want to invest in newer opportunities, especially the real estate market stagnated. It's hard to invest as a young entrepreneur, for example. So they're looking for alternative ways to invest and get bigger returns. So I think that's the reason most young people are looking to crypto. They want to find new opportunities and they thought, OK, this is very innovative. This is so new that we can only get access to, for example. So I think as Asians are always constantly looking for new things to maybe reap some benefits, but also to learn, be inspired. I think that's a really good environment to be in as a whole and sentiment as well. And so I mean, I cannot generalize everything, but I think just to kind of sum it all, I think that could be a good contributing factor. 

Matt Zahab 
It's a great point. I love your point about the real estate too. I mean, it's very similar in North America in the sense that the markets cooling down and just the prices are so bloody expensive like when my parents and all of you know my my buddies parents when they bought homes 30 40 years ago If they were you know a classic two three bedroom home in Toronto where I live was $150,000 and now it's $1.5 mil. I mean there's I can't see a world where myself and my peers my network has an opportunity to 10x you know their investment on their home, which is pretty wild. So just like you said and I haven't really thought about this to be honest but everyone's always looking for a solid investment and if you can't get that 10x bagger on the home perhaps you look at crypto great point never really thought about that kudos there. Another point that you keep hammering home and it's one that I love is bridging the gap between crypto communities more specifically the east and the west. We do need a lot more collaboration. It seems like I don't want to say we're divided per se. But it does seems there are definitely a lot of barriers. There's a lot of roadblocks. What can we do to really help drive innovation and help that widespread adoption of crypto between the east and the west? 

Erica Kang 
Yeah, it's always been a big challenge for me. And it's my seventh year in crypto, but still, it's really hard to camera that question. And I think that challenge is never ending, right? I think it will still ever exist. And I mean, there are many aspects to why this gap exists. I think most importantly, there is the language barrier, which is like a huge hurdle. And as Western Korea might be, for example, or Vietnam is trying to learn a lot of, the Vietnamese are really eager to learn English, for example, like the passion is just outstanding. 

Matt Zahab 
What, why is that? Like why Vietnam over other countries? 

Erica Kang 
Well, I think like Vietnamese, when I was living there, I just felt like they're the passion to just learn in general. Like education, the fever is like kind of comfortable to South Korea. Like South Korean, like the parents are crazy. In general, it's like, yeah, it's really hard. And I was a result of that like passionate education system. But you know, I think the like sheer passion towards learning English is humongous. It's huge. And so like the fact that I'm good at English, it's very like commemorable. They love that, right? About me. But anyway, just back to the point, like even though we love to learn English, for example, we still favor our native language. You know what I mean? Like in terms of content, in terms of reading like accessible materials, we do favor communicating in our own native language. And also when it just feels uncomfortable to some natives, if they feel like, okay, we're like giving all these English content, for example. I mean, most of the content in crypto are in English, right? I think that's inevitable. And you know, we try to translate as much as possible the original content, but still I don't think it's like comparable. It's like the original content is always the best. And so even in the language area, so I think that contributes a huge hurdle to like communication as well. And so that creates like a cultural barrier as well. And I think both cultures, it's hard to really like understand 100% about each of those cultures. And so we need a bridge to kind of, at least try to minimize the gap. And that's where I exist, right? To kind of try to kind of minimize and create more mutual understanding amongst both cultures and make sure that both are not misunderstood, for example, in terms of like how you read between the lines or how you communicate like direct communication versus indirect communication is very different. And so like Koreans are very indirect. Yeah. So when you write an email or essay, for example, you just write the conclusion in the beginning for like US style, like North America style, I used to write very directly. On the other hand, Koreans write the conclusions at the end, way at the end. So it's like this and this contributes to the result. So that's the end. So which is like that really reflects how we think about everything and how we want to portray our opinion, for example. So I mean, even in that simple example, it really creates this gap in communication as well. 

Matt Zahab
That's such a great point there. We gotta go back, because I feel like you're gonna have some fire stories for the question that I'm about to ask you. Your parents and other South Korean parents growing up, I saw the look on your face. I assume that you were absolutely pushed the limit in regards to being the smartest young version of Erica possible. Erica, you gotta give us some good stories of you as a kid and your parents pushing you. You can talk about your friends and their parents as well, but tell me more about the culture growing up in South Korea school-wise. 

Erica Kang 
Okay, oh, this is, you know, there's a K drama, a famous K drama called Sky Castle. There's a very famous, so it's like a typical example of like crazy like a Korean educational system. And I think a lot of people were shocked at like the portrayal in Sky Castle. They're like, oh, this cannot be real. This is like crazy. And I'm like, I was looking at it, I was like, well, this is quite the life that I have, but I was younger. It was not a big surprise. And so, I mean, like, so I'm privileged in the sense that I used to live in the US back in elementary school. So I have a very like bilingual background. And so I think I got a much better, easier route than others actually. I got the privilege to go to the fast route, which is like the English fluent, you know, personnel, there's a group for that. And so they, we get like a special treatment, which, you know, I'm very grateful for. If I weren't that category, I would have been like more rigorous in my education. But I did prepare for the ordinary, the normal route, which is like the hardcore one. And so basically I went to a foreign language high school back in high school in Korea, which so the school was until 9 p.m. So I would do, the courses would end at three, but you have to study like extracurricular classes and do self-study until 9 at the school. 

Matt Zahab 
Well, wait, so you're in school from nine to three, and then you're in your own like home school from three to nine. 

Erica Kang 
Yes, in the school. We're in the classroom. And then we do, we eat dinner at the school. And then we do like after dinner like classes, and we just do self-studying until nine. And then we come back home at 10, right? And so we're supposed to go to sleep. But we go to academies after we come back from school. So the classes start at 10 p.m. And so some of my classes would end at 2 a.m. And so I would, 

Matt Zahab 
Wait, and how old are you staying up till 2 a.m.? 

Erica Kang 
So second grade of high school, for example, like I was like 16. 

Matt Zahab 
That's wild. 

Erica Kang 
And so the academies would not run officially until 2am. So they would especially open the academy for us for our own group. And so they would pretend to be closed, but they would be internally, as you can secretly open for us. And so they'll be caught by the police or something like that. They would open until 2am. So we would go there and like have a secret class until 2am and then come back home, sleep until 6, and then go back to school at 7ish, 7-8 or something like that. 

Matt Zahab 
My goodness, that is absolutely wild. That is crazy. So much different in North America, which obviously you are very accustomed to sports dominates. I feel like in a lot of aspects, sports is more important than school, right? Like when you're growing up, your identity isn't so much like what subject are you good at in school or what do you want to be when you're older? It's like what sport do you play or, you know, perhaps if you're a girl, do you dance or ballet or gymnastics or which again are sports as well? Whatever the case may be, crazy differences. Got to love how the world works. Erica, we got to take a quick break and give a huge shout out to our sponsor, the show that is PrimeXBT. And when we get back, we are going to get right into KryptoSeoul, the premier crypto conference in South Korea. But until then, huge shout out to PrimeXBT, longtime friends of cryptonews.com and longtime sponsors of the cryptonews.com/podcast. PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders. It doesn't matter if you're a rookie or a vet, you can easily design and customize your layouts and widgets to best fit your trading style. PrimeXBT is also running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the Cryptonews Podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% that is 50%, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. The promo code is CRYPTONEWS50, that is CRYPTONEWS50, all one word to take advantage of this offer and receive 50% of your deposit credited to your trading account. And now back to the show with Erica. Erica, let's jump into the bread and butter KryptoSeoul. You run the show there. It is the best crypto conference in South Korea. Before we get into it, give me the TLDR, give me the elevator pitch. What exactly is KryptoSeoul and what exactly do you and the team do to move and groove over there? 

Erica Kang 
So KryptoSeoul is a community building team, and we've been here since 2017. And so we've been helping Layer1 projects, Layer2 projects to build their presence in Asia like a healthy way, which means like organic way, and try to get the connect to the right founders, builders, investors in this space, and just try to make the first impression good in the green market. And so yeah, I've been targeting mainly developers and builders and students as well. And so that's why I founded BUIDL Asia Conference. It's a platform agnostic technical conference. I think it's like one of the first, and I think it is one of the best in terms of that, because I'm very proud of being platform agnostic, and just kind of like laying out all the Layer1s in the best technologies like, you know, fly out, and just kind of sharing what they've built over the past years. And even so that's my kind of, you know, I think it's really nice to kind of see them all together in one setting. And I've been running pretty strong for four years now. And yeah, it's been growing ever since. And yeah, it's a very community-friendly conference as well, so which is really, I'm really proud of that. 

Matt Zahab 
And how would this conference differ from some of the other Asian conferences, for example, like the one that's going on right now, where you currently are, and that is obviously Token2049. What are some of the big differences just so people can get a bit of a lay of the land? 

Erica Kang 
So I would say that Token2049 is definitely huge in scale, which is definitely admirable. I really respect that. To run that big of a conference is a huge deal. I think BUIDL Asia is much more focused, and I think in terms of technology, research, achievements, and I think it's just more content-curated. I really put a lot of focus on content curation, and also who I take as a sponsor, speaker, it's all hand-picked and very much filtered, for example. And it's hard to filter in my own standards, I know, but I think according to my standards, I think they're definitely on the right level. And so it takes a year, a full year, to really plan out which projects are definitely worth comparing to or on the same line of speakers. And I try to put some narrative to it as well. I think narrative is very important in creating a conference. And so, I mean, the conference size may be smaller, but I think in terms of the quality, I really try to put a lot of story to it. And also, yeah, so content is definitely a key to my conference, yeah. 

Matt Zahab 
I love that. Yeah, you definitely need fire content, especially when doing anything crypto conference related. Have you been to, I'm sure you've been to a bunch of crypto conferences over in the Middle East, more specifically in Dubai or in Europe and in North America. I've only been to a crypto conference in Dubai and a bunch in North America, never been to any in Europe, never been to any in Asia. What are some of the differences on that and like culturally speaking some of the perhaps smaller nuances. I'd love to dive into that just to get a lay of the land and try to put my feet in your shoes. 

Erica Kang 
Well, I think Middle Asia is a little different from the local Korean conferences, honestly, because I try to put the global standards to Korea. Like, that's what I wanted to portray is basically bring global to Korea. That's what I want to do so that the local Koreans can see like, oh, this is like a really nicely put event. And this is like what the global scene does, basically. And so I want to kind of give that. Yeah. And I think on my, I mean, according to my standards, I think I really respect what ETHGlobal is doing, for example, with like its progma and also ETHGlobal hackathons, because I'm also like very passionate about hackathons. And I think those are my favorite, you know, events that I always go to. Also, I love ETHDenver as well, which is also, ETH CCU you was in Paris was amazing. I went in July this year and it was absolutely amazing to see the European landscape. A lot of the teams based in Europe was, you know, definitely there. So that was a treat. And I'm not really like, I wasn't really exposed to a lot of the European builders scene, but I was, it was really, you know, inspiring to me. And so I would love to bring that to the solo as well at one point. So yeah, I mean, like anything, you know, developer related is definitely my, you know, favorite event to go to. And I really like how they, you know, curate the content. I really see carefully like, okay, how they creatively, you know, try to not show the project, but basically showcase the project in which it is very like, has a very strong narrative and like to be creative. Yeah. I really respect that. And it, a lot of work goes into it. And so yeah, I think those are my favorites. 

Matt Zahab 
I'm gonna ask you a bit of a tough one here, but besides, of course, your own conference, KryptoSeoul, what is your favorite and most fun crypto conference you've ever been to? Besides KryptoSeoul, of course. 

Erica Kang 
I mean, my conferences are not fun for me because I'm in a place with a good point. 

Matt Zahab 
You're in the weeds 24 hours a day. 

Erica Kang 
Exactly. I rarely sleep, so it's very nerve-wracking. The ones I enjoy going to. Honestly, ETHDenver was amazing. It has a quirky, very unique color to it, which I do respect. And I think it's very difficult to mimic in Korea, for example. It's very hard to have that culture. Very free-spirited, but Denver has a very strong color, right? In that own area. I really like going back to Denver every year. And the Buffy Corn character, I really like the Buffy Corn. I'm looking forward to going next February. That's my favorite so far. 

Matt Zahab 
Never been gotta put that on the to-do list there, Erica. Yeah. It has to happen. Well, look, Erica, this is this has been an absolute treat. This has been lovely. My last question in regards to KryptoSeoul and BUIDL Asia, I'd love if you could let our listeners know how crazy and bananas it truly is during a conference of that size. I've helped out with a amount of precision, the amount of everything that goes into it. I don't think people really truly appreciate, you know, you show up to the conference, you get the nice lights, the sound system, everything's beautiful, everything's organized. It is absolute nightmare fuel getting that done. I'd love if you could just tell a couple stories that have happened in your years of throwing these conferences and events, just anything to showcase how crazy the process truly is. 

Erica Kang 
Of course, it's more crazy for me because I host at least three major events at the same time. So basically, I also host ETH Seoul. So ETH Seoul, BUIDL Asia, and Cosmos hackathon. I do it at one queue during one week. And I host three side events and three speaker dinners. And I also take care of all these nice speakers, which is like 50 speakers, for example. And so all of that into one person's role is kind of mind-blowing. And I shouldn't be doing this, I know. But I take care of all the agenda, all the invitations for speakers, sponsors, everything. So it's a one-man show kind of. And so I feel like almost feel like I'm testing my limits at a certain point. And it's my sixth year organizing events of this scale. So I feel like every year I'm touching my limits until how far I can go. But I'm getting the hang of it, but it's just like physically, it's just very consuming. And it's just limiting. I can't scale myself. So some people are joking, well, there's Erika one in this venue, and there's Erika two in the other venue. And Erika three is resting in her home, for example. So they're just joking because I'm all everywhere, number one, and I'm not resting and I'm just not sleeping. So I'm always responding on telegram and I'm always like, I'm the present. So being on the radar, always being attentive to speakers, because speakers are my assets, I think. Speakers and my sponsors are my assets. Yeah, I have to elevate them. I have to highlight them. And I mean, personally, there's like dear friends of mine as well. And so I want to make sure that they have a wonderful time in Korea, in my conference as well. And just I just want to take care of that. So I mean, it's a personal treat, but an honor, but it's really a lot of grueling work. And so, yeah, I just get like so nervous, like a one month tired to the whole like frenzy. So I rarely sleep, but I always try to get my exercise done. Just kind of like, you know, wind it out a little bit. But yeah, it's really, it takes a lot of energy out of you. And especially my situation in which it's like a, you know, comes from one brain and one body. So it's like, it's definitely, it's tough. And a lot of, I really care about the content as well, as I told you. So I really make sure double check, triple check, that the content is right and the speakers are in the right place, for example. So until the last minute, basically. So yeah, it's very nerve-wracking. 

Matt Zahab 
I love that. Thanks for the little sneak peek there. Erica, last time you're in the show, hot take factory, you and I put our shit kicking boots on, jump in the Hot Take Factory, let a couple fly. You got to give us a couple Erica hot takes before we let you go, it doesn't have to be crypto related, can be health, wealth, happiness, space, aliens, AI, you name it. But give us a couple Erica hot takes before we let you go today. 

Erica Kang 
Well, I don't think it's a hot take, but I think it's the most important to keep the exercise going. I dance a lot, and so I think relieving stress is definitely mentally, I mean, it's a test for me right now, actually. And so I try to like, I think like dancing or even just like, you know, I'm relieving to meditation. I think mental health and also physical health is the most important thing. I mean, alone from all the career building that we're in it for, right? I think it's really important. And number two, Korean food is the best. What should I say? It comes to Korea. Like, you know, Korean cuisine is like absolutely number one. I hosted. Top notch. I hosted just last week, I hosted a Korean barbecue and karaoke, like gathering full of founders and they loved it. And it's like the legit way to like welcome people. And so that's my hot take. I think it's a commonly, you know, recognized take, I believe. And yeah. Oh, women builders are very underrated. That's what I want to also stress as well. You know, I think a female women representation in crypto is definitely underestimated. I think it should be highlighted more. I haven't spoken openly about this enough, but I think I should because I feel like a lot of, because I'm from a women's university in South Korea, and, you know, these young students, they look up to me, they ask me questions about career building, also a balance between personal life and also like how I manage like work and also family, for example. And so I think I really am asked to be a mentor for a lot of these things. But yeah, I really think female builders should be more appreciated and also more supported as well. And so yeah, that's also my other hot take. 

Matt Zahab 
I love that. I agree with all three, especially the Korean food being absolutely fire. Korean barbecue, undefeated. Never forget the first time I had it, went with my parent. Oh my goodness, so freaking good. Love that. 

Erica Kang 
You got to come to soul. 

Matt Zahab 
I know, when I need to get to that neck of the woods, when I do, I will definitely hit you up. But I really appreciate you coming on. This was truly a lovely episode and can't wait to have you on for round two. And hopefully I will be able to meet you and the team in person at one of your amazing conferences. But until then, can you please let our listeners know where they can find you and KryptoSeoul and BUIDL Asia online and on socials. 

Erica Kang 
Yes, we have a website, buidl.asia. It's very simple. So you can just type in there for the conference references for the past years. And also all the hypethons that we did, for example, and so you can find us there. Also on Twitter, I'm on @ekang426. 426 my birthday. It's very evident. Yeah, I regret that. You should have done more cooler. I did not know it was going to be in crypto. So anyway, I'm there. And then I have a BUIDL Asia account, also KryptoSeoul so you can follow us there for more updates. Also have a YouTube channel, a very small one. But KryptoSeoul if you type in KryptoSeoul in English, you can find my YouTube channel. I have a huge array of interviews as well during COVID. And so maybe you can check that out. That'd be appreciated. Yeah, so please find me everywhere. I'm everywhere. 

Matt Zahab
You got it. Erika, thanks again for coming on. Truly a blast and can't wait for round two, wishing you and the team all the best and we'll talk soon. 

Erica Kang 
Thank you so much, Matt. Thank you, everybody. 

Matt Zahab 
Folks, what an incredible episode with Erica Kang, CEO and Founder of KryptoSeoul and BUIDL Asia. She was dropping knowledge bombs left, right, and center. Anything Crypto and Asia related, Erica covered it. We love to see that huge shout out to her and the team for making this happen. To the listeners, love you guys. Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this one, I hope you did. Please do subscribe. It would mean the world to my team and I speaking to the team. Love you guys so much. Thank you for everything. Justas my amazing sound editor. You're the GOAT. Love you. And back to the listeners, love you guys. Thank you as always for tuning in. Keep on growing those bags and keep on staying healthy, wealthy and happy. Bye for now and we'll talk soon.