Ethena AMA for Korean Market Acquisition

Executive Summary

Ethena successfully penetrated the Korean cryptocurrency market through a strategically designed KOL-driven YouTube AMA campaign. By partnering with the established "코인 같이투자-딱지(Edward Park)" channel and implementing a multi-step engagement funnel, Ethena effectively positioned USDe as a leading synthetic stablecoin while building meaningful connections with Korean retail investors.

The campaign successfully concluded on August 1, 2025, delivering strong engagement metrics and establishing Ethena's credibility within Korea's $663B annual trading volume market. The strategic emphasis on educational content and community participation created sustainable pathways for long-term user acquisition and brand recognition.

Project Background

About Ethena Protocol

Ethena is the issuer behind USDe, a yield-bearing synthetic dollar that has rapidly climbed the stablecoin rankings to become the third-largest stablecoin globally. With market cap snapshots around $12B in August 2025, USDe has demonstrated material traction across exchanges and DeFi integrations, reinforcing Ethena's position as a major player in the decentralized finance ecosystem.

Current Development Status

In Q3 2025, Ethena demonstrated strong institutional confidence through significant capital initiatives. StablecoinX announced additional PIPE financing to expand ENA holdings, while a subsidiary of the Ethena Foundation launched an approximately $310M buyback over six to eight weeks. Market commentators estimated this could retire a meaningful share of circulating ENA and signal confidence in long-term token economics.

Korean Market Analysis

Market Scale and Opportunity

Korea represents one of the most active retail-driven crypto markets worldwide, with KRW spot trading volumes in 2025 estimated around $663B and deep liquidity on domestic venues such as Upbit and Bithumb. This environment concentrates discovery, narrative velocity, and conversion in ways that can meaningfully accelerate user acquisition and secondary-market depth for token projects.

Strategic Market Advantages

The local crypto market size expanded significantly, with the aggregate market value of listed crypto assets in Korea reported at roughly $77.5B at one mid-2025 checkpoint, reflecting robust retail participation and an appetite for new listings and narratives. This backdrop creates unique opportunities for projects like Ethena to establish meaningful market presence.

Campaign Strategy

Target Audience Analysis

The campaign targeted Korean retail crypto investors through the "코인 같이투자-딱지(Edward Park)" YouTube channel, which maintains 34K+ subscribers and over 600 videos focused on retail-driven analysis and tutorials. This audience alignment provided direct access to engaged Korean investors seeking educational content and investment opportunities in the cryptocurrency space.

Timing and Format Strategy

The AMA was strategically scheduled for Friday at 6PM KST, aligning with the channel's "금요일이 맛있다" (Friday is Delicious) format. This timing capitalized on after-work viewership patterns and weekend preparation mindset, maximizing audience availability and engagement potential during prime Korean viewing hours.

Implementation Details

Event Structure and Leadership

The AMA featured Ethena's core leadership team, including Guy (Founder) and Connor (Head of Research & Data), providing authoritative insights into USDe's market position and addressing forward-looking questions from Korean users. This direct access to leadership enhanced credibility and demonstrated Ethena's commitment to the Korean market.

Multi-Channel Participation Framework

The campaign implemented a sophisticated multi-step engagement process designed to maximize user interaction and create measurable conversion pathways. Participants engaged through YouTube viewing, X (Twitter) social actions, proof submission, secret code entry, and Google Form completion, creating a comprehensive funnel for audience qualification and reward distribution.

Incentive Structure and Local Appeal

The campaign featured 250 total rewards specifically tailored to Korean preferences, including 50 fried-chicken e-gift coupons and 200 coffee certificates. This localized approach emphasized broad community participation and shareability, particularly targeting the Friday commute window when Korean workers are most receptive to weekend entertainment and reward opportunities.

Results & Impact

Campaign Performance Metrics

The Ethena AMA campaign successfully concluded on August 1, 2025, achieving its primary objectives of Korean market penetration and community engagement. The VOD remains publicly accessible for ongoing discovery and long-tail traffic, extending the campaign's impact beyond the live event timeframe.

Community Response and Engagement

The format and timing alignment with the channel's retail audience created effective engagement pathways. The multi-step CTAs (X Like/RT, watch + proof, code + form) established a clear progression from awareness to action, while the campaign achieved measurable funnel entries via form submissions for reward qualification.

Long-term Market Positioning

Within Korea's high-velocity retail market, the AMA format effectively positioned Ethena to deepen Korean-language understanding of USDe, ENA, and the treasury/buyback narrative. The campaign maintained momentum following high-profile financing updates reported in mainstream crypto media, establishing a foundation for continued Korean market engagement.

Strategic Insights

Korean Market Success Factors

The campaign's success demonstrates the effectiveness of localized KOL partnerships in the Korean cryptocurrency market. The trusted local creator with a dedicated subscriber base compressed user education cycles, enabling Ethena to articulate complex mechanisms like synthetic stablecoins, liquidity management, and treasury policy in digestible formats that drove measurable actions.

Narrative Impact and Market Response

Korean retail investors respond quickly to concrete catalysts, and the AMA format allowed for focused Q&A sessions covering rank milestones and treasury actions like buybacks. This approach translated complex financial mechanisms into accessible discussions that lifted intent and sharing among the target audience.

"Ethena's Korean market AMA represents a masterclass in strategic cryptocurrency marketing, successfully leveraging local KOL partnerships and cultural insights to achieve meaningful market penetration. The campaign's emphasis on educational content delivery and community engagement demonstrates the evolution of Web3 marketing toward sustainable, relationship-based growth strategies." - HighCrypto Strategic Analysis Team

Replicable Framework Development

The campaign established a replicable framework for Web3 projects entering the Korean market, combining optimal timing strategies, trusted local partnerships, multi-channel engagement mechanics, and culturally relevant incentive structures. This approach provides a template for future market entry initiatives across the broader Asian cryptocurrency ecosystem.