0/ Last week I met up with a Korean friend who works at one the biggest Korean crypto exchange. I have known him a long time and was the one that convinced him to move into crypto. It was good to see him happy and doing well in his role.
1/ This friend used to work with me in GS and ultimately ended up in Nomura doing equity sales. Like many bankers these days, he has been at it for a long time but the job offered no upside anymore nor any security. He was restless and unmotivated.
2/ When I first spoke to him about crypto and the fund I was setting up, he was skeptical. I have him several teach-ins and convinced him to look for opportunities in crypto. Shortly after he was offered a role with a big Korean crypto exchange to focus on institutions.
3/ He was initially unsure about the role but I strongly encouraged him to take it. After some deliberation, he resigned him equities job and accepted the role with the Korean exchange.
4/ When he joined the exchange he quickly realized he was one of the only adults in the room and quickly won the trust of the founder and he was given more and more responsibilities. It also helped that he was one of a few people in the company who spoke fluent English.
5/ 2019 was by no means easy given the government’s crackdown on the Korean exchanges but he kept his head down and worked hard.
6/ Today, he has become one of the senior guys at the exchange. Their volumes are up 10x vs last year like most exchanges. In addition, he has also become a crypto KOL in Korea with his own widely followed YouTube channel.
7/ Crypto has given his career a new lease of life in addition to financial security. Most of all he feels like he is being valued for what he does.
8/ He has thousands of grateful fans that thank him daily for his content where previously in his old job he was leaving daily voicemails for his institutional clients, most of which just get auto deleted.
9/ It’s good to know I made a difference in someone’s life, and in the process was able to indirectly influence thousands of Korean retail investors to take an interest in crypto.
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