From Crypto Enthusiast to KOL: Building Influence in Web3

Building a kol presence wasn’t something I set out to do intentionally. The term itself carries some baggage—there’s widespread skepticism about influencers and the influencer economy, and rightfully so. The crypto space has seen countless cases where supposed industry voices pump projects and dump on their followers, leaving real financial damage in their wake. Not every kol operates this way, but the concern is understandable.

My journey started out of pure boredom during the 2022 bear market. I wasn’t chasing money or fame when I first posted on Twitter—I simply needed something to do. Looking back, I realize this accidental beginning shaped everything that followed.

Why Boredom Led to Building a KOL Presence

In late 2021, I was working at a Korean cryptocurrency exchange when the market experienced a significant crash. The once-vibrant crypto space went quiet. For months, my office routine became monotonous: show up, check Twitter, leave. There wasn’t much to do because my boss was busy promoting the exchange rather than building actual products.

This wasn’t my first crypto cycle. I’d lived through the previous bear market and understood that new bull runs were inevitable. The 2020-2021 bull market revealed something important—most people didn’t understand DeFi mechanics. They traded on centralized exchanges without knowing how to use MetaMask. When DeFi summer arrived, those who’d invested time learning the basics captured outsized returns. I was one of them, farming YFI on Curve and watching annual interest rates hit an astonishing 10,000%.

I started writing on Twitter not to become a kol, but to document my research and prove to myself that I actually understood what I was discussing. My handle became “DeFi Research” for exactly this reason.

Tip: If you think you truly understand a concept, write it down. You’ll quickly discover that explaining ideas clearly in writing is far harder than visualizing them in your mind.

I spent a week researching and writing an analysis of 25 DeFi protocol roadmaps. The article was a gamble—so much time invested with no guarantee of traction. But it resonated. Respected figures like Miles Deutscher, DeFi Dad, and DeFi Edge engaged with it. The post accumulated 244,000 views and remains in my top 5 most-liked content despite having only 300 followers at the time.

Within days, my following exploded to 3,000. That single post created a 10x increase in followers and proved something fundamental: sustained growth requires content quality, not accidents. I learned that while viral posts can happen randomly, building a real following means consistently delivering insightful, original content—work that requires genuine effort.

Over the following weeks, I kept publishing regularly about token economics, stablecoins, and emerging protocols like SBT. By staying disciplined and pushing content weekly, I reached 10,000 followers. The Twitter algorithm rewards consistency; neglect it, and you disappear from people’s feeds.

Tip: The first 10,000 followers are the hardest milestone. Once you achieve momentum, you can expand your topic range and build on your established credibility as a kol voice in the space.

Understanding the Economics of Being a KOL

Two influences shaped my decision to keep building: my girlfriend’s support and Naval Ravikant’s philosophy on wealth creation. Ravikant’s essay “How to Get Rich (Without Luck)” fundamentally changed how I thought about success. His core argument: build specific knowledge through curiosity, then leverage that knowledge via the internet to create value while you sleep.

What caught my attention most: “If you can’t code, write books and blogs, record videos and podcasts.” In other words, everyone has a path to leverage specific knowledge. In an attention-scarce world, an audience becomes your most valuable asset.

This isn’t hyperbole. We live in an attention economy where information vastly exceeds our capacity to consume it. That scarcity makes attention valuable—and difficult to capture. For crypto projects, capturing attention can determine success or failure. Technical superiority takes a backseat when narrative and sentiment dominate price discovery.

This dynamic is why kol marketing strategies matter. For projects like Polkadot, working with influencers is often more effective for reaching native Web3 audiences than traditional marketing. The leverage is real: as a kol, you gain multiple income streams and reduce dependence on any single employer or income source.

I condensed this into my own narrative: I started curious, built deep knowledge, chose writing as my leverage tool, grew an audience, and eventually monetized through multiple channels. Building a kol presence gave me what I’d never had working at a traditional company—optionality and autonomy.

The Monetization Framework Every KOL Should Know

Leaving my 9-to-5 job nine months into building my Twitter presence remains one of my best decisions. With 40,000+ followers and a Notion spreadsheet of monetization models, I mapped out what kol influencers actually make money from:

Paid Posts:

• The simplest model but also the riskiest. A single bad partnership with a questionable project can permanently damage your credibility
• Accounts under 10,000 followers struggle to attract mainstream projects; larger accounts face the opposite problem—too many offers, insufficient time to vet them
• Pricing typically ranges from $500 for KOLs with under 20,000 followers to $3,000-5,000 for those with hundreds of thousands
• Market conditions matter: bull markets command higher rates than bear markets
• I deliberately chose not to pursue many paid post opportunities, taking only one Pancakeswap V3 deal

Blog Sponsorships:

• Dedicated sponsored sections within blog posts cost anywhere from hundreds to thousands depending on readership
• Featured blog posts command premium pricing (I know a kol who charges $15,000 for this)
• Expect to invest at least $1,000 for 150 words of quality sponsored content

Paid Subscriptions:

• Generally underutilized because they limit your reach and growth
• My personal experience: I earn $13,000 annually from paid subscriptions, less than what paid posts generate for comparable effort
• Other monetization models typically outperform this approach

Private Equity Allocations:

• Increasingly common and popular with projects because kol investors provide organic promotion without commissioned posts
• Typical kol allocations range from $1,000 to $20,000
• Terms often exceed what traditional venture capital offers: shorter lock-ups, better valuations
• Expectations: post about the project a few times monthly
• Current risk: low-circulation, high FDV tokens frequently get dumped, eliminating the previous “risk-free” arbitrage

Advisor and Ambassador Roles:

• These require long-term monthly posting commitments
• Payments typically range from $5,000-15,000 monthly, usually in project tokens
• Paid posts use stablecoins; ambassador roles use project tokens

Referral Programs:

• Income varies based on user volume and network effects
• Airdrop referrals work well; CEX referral fees provide ongoing income
• This remains unstable compared to fixed-fee arrangements

The Path Forward: Finding your monetization model takes patience. I went nine months and built to 40,000+ followers before landing my first blog sponsorship. I eventually launched Pink Brains, my influencer marketing agency, which has generated more revenue than paid posts alone—though I remain more committed to growing the agency than maximizing personal income.

Growing Your Audience: From Micro to Macro

Audience growth requires a strategic framework rather than tactics. Here’s what actually works:

Start with Specialization, Expand Later Begin by dominating a specific niche—one protocol, one topic area, one vertical. Become the authority on that subject by writing comprehensive guides, sharing consistent updates, and embedding yourself in that community. Only move to adjacent topics once you’ve built credibility. My path: one protocol → DeFi broadly → cryptocurrency → adjacent topics.

Combine Multiple Skills The most successful kol voices combine abilities rather than specializing in one. Study creators like CC 2 Ventures: they share airdrop guides while actively farming the same opportunities. This authenticity attracts followers.

Deliver Value Before Monetizing This separates sustainable growth from short-term gains. Publish freely for months. Share research without paywalls. Connect with your audience without asking for anything. Only after building trust should you introduce monetization. Creators like ELI 5 / TLDR grew to 13,000 followers by commenting on popular posts before ever monetizing.

Practical Optimization Tactics:

• Avoid hashtags entirely (they make posts look spammy); use token tickers instead
• Maintain one consistent avatar; NFT avatars can attract community (Pudgy Penguins gained this effect) but cost significant money
• Tag relevant experts at the end of posts, but avoid tagging the same person repeatedly
• Use tools like Typefully to polish grammar, brainstorm with AI, and track performance analytics
• Engage with your community—reply to comments, participate in discussions, express gratitude

The Reinvention Imperative Yesterday’s success doesn’t guarantee tomorrow’s relevance. Crypto trends shift constantly. Many influential voices lose their audience because they fail to adapt. Stay unique by taking inspiration from your favorite writers but maintaining your own voice. Mix lightweight content (which generates views) with substantial posts (which attract dedicated followers).

The Platform Arbitrage Strategy Rather than fighting for attention on saturated Twitter, build initial followings on emerging platforms like Farcaster, Debank, or Lens where competition is lower. Once you establish a stable community, migrate them to Twitter where monetization opportunities are greater.

What Doesn’t Work: Avoid Twitter engagement pods and like-bait campaigns. These artificially inflate metrics but train the algorithm to show your posts to reward-seekers, not valuable community members. When those campaigns end, your reach collapses. Pursue quality followers over vanity metrics.

The Reality Check: I required two years to reach 100,000 followers. Today, building a following is harder than ever due to fewer new participants and algorithmic changes favoring accounts you already follow. Success ultimately depends on three factors: unique perspective, strong writing ability, and consistent hard work.

Effective Outreach: How KOLs Connect and Influence

An unexpected benefit of building a kol following is increased influence in private conversations. I receive dozens of direct messages daily but can only respond to a fraction—not because I’m dismissive, but because most messages lack substance.

Most kol influencers operate similarly. Here’s why your message gets ignored: lack of mutual attention. If I don’t follow the person who sent you the message, it gets deprioritized in my inbox.

This applies even if you’re not a kol—if you’re a developer, researcher, company representative, or business development professional, building followers improves your ability to connect meaningfully.

Effective Outreach Principles:

• Keep messages brief; long messages get skipped
• Introduce yourself, state your specific need, and emphasize what you offer (not just what you want)
• Never include a calendar link or long URL in your first message—this signals low-effort, template outreach
• Persistence matters, but remain respectful
• Non-response means your opportunity didn’t align with their needs; don’t take it personally
• Calendly links in first messages are particularly off-putting

Building Your Own Path

This has been my journey, but your path will differ. The principles remain consistent: combine curiosity with discipline, build specific knowledge, leverage the internet to distribute that knowledge, and develop multiple income streams. Whether you become a kol influencer or use these principles for different goals, the framework adapts.

The crypto space rewards those who show up consistently, provide genuine value, and refuse to compromise on authenticity. Start today.