Doma at Korea Blockchain Week 2025 - The “Seoul” of DomainFi
By Michael Ho (CBO & Co-Founder, D3)
Korea Blockchain Week has always been one of the most exciting stops on the global Web3 circuit. Taking place last week in Seoul, we met builders, investors, regulators, and long-time friends in Korea – we also announced Mizu, our new DeFi launchpad for liquid domains!
The team and I were on the ground maintaining our presence across a host of events, talks, and media interviews.
DeFi Builder Cafe
DeFi Builder Cafe was our flagship event during KBW, which we co-hosted with Maelstrom, Meteora, Superteam, and DoraHacks. The spot was just a few steps from the main KBW venue at Walkerhill. We brought builders, founders, and investors together for a full day of talks, and panels.
Fred and Arthur Take the Stage
The featured talk of the day was the fireside chat with my co-founder & CEO Fred Hsu and our investor and Maelstrom head Arthur Hayes.
During the chat, Arthur pointed out that the RWA space is crowded with low-quality assets because it’s extremely difficult to generate real liquidity for long-tail instruments. Domains, however, are different since they have decades of proven product-market fit, and we know people are willing to spend millions of dollars on them.
I introduced our vision around owning and trading the Internet including a preview of the new Mizu DeFi launchpad.
We rounded off the afternoon with a powerful panel session by our friends from Superteam, Meteora, Caladan, and DoraHacks talking about the future of DeFi.
Avalanche Lodge
We co-hosted the Avalanche Lodge for Avalanche ecosystem partners, Web3 builders, and long-time friends of the network. It was a great way to align with Avalanche’s DeFi builders and share how Doma is expanding the RWA conversation.
Solana Seoul Mixer
We joined forces with the Solana Foundation, Chainlink, Solstice Labs, DoubleZero, Solayer, Gradient, elizaOS, SHIFT, and other ecosystem partners to co-host the Solana Seoul Mixer.
The evening had handcrafted cocktails, great food, and wonderful conversations. It was inspiring to see Solana’s momentum in Asia and reconnecting with familiar faces.
Interview With BlockMedia
Fred sat down with local media partner Blockmedia and shared how we’re using the Doma Protocol to turn traditionally illiquid, high-value domain portfolios into dynamic, tradeable assets. He also explained why domains are the internet’s first scarce digital asset, the original NFT, and how Doma is bringing them into the DeFi economy.
You can read the full interview here.
Mammoth Side Event with Celestia
I caught up with Jihyun Hwang from Dailian during S(e)oulish Mamo, a neat mammoth-themed event we co-hosted with Celestia and Hibachi. We dug into why domain tokenization is finally breaking open in 2025 and how builders finally have the rails to trade the internet and make it usable in DeFi.
I also had the pleasure of talking shop with Chris Yin from Plume and Yuan from Blockchain Capital about Tokenizing the Real World: What Actually Works in 2025.
Hack Seasons Mixer
Later on Fred joined the Hack Seasons panel on “DeFi Needs Better Rails: Rethinking Infra For The Next Cycle.”
“The biggest thing for the domain industry is trust. Once trust is there, you can unlock DeFi primitives and create a whole new sector - DeFi for domains.” – Fred, CEO & Co-Founder, D3
Watch the full interview here.
Founder Gogi Time
To wrap up the week, we hosted a Founder Gogi Time dinner in Gangnam, an invite-only KBBQ gathering that brought together some of the most interesting founders, investors, and ecosystem partners I know.
The evening was about good food and real conversations. We talked strategy, explored collaborations, and shared what’s next for DomainFi while the grills sizzled and soju flowed.
Nights like this remind me why I love being in Web3. The best ideas and connections often start around a dinner table.
And with that, it’s time to bid adieu to Seoul. As always, Korea has been invigorating and highly rewarding.
Up Next: Token2049
This week, I'm in Singapore for TOKEN2049, one of the most influential and forward-looking gatherings in the entire Web3 space. Our team will be there in full force, flying the flag for Doma & DomainFi.
Catch me on the Multichain Day panel unpacking all things DeFi as well as the Metamask Builder Night. Meanwhile, Fred will be speaking at Real-World Adoption Day and the Hack Seasons Conference Singapore, sharing our vision for bringing real-world assets on-chain at scale.
We are looking forward to connecting with global builders, investors, and innovators who care about owning and trading the Internet!
