Youngsun’s genuine personality makes him one of the most likeable people around but his deep passion for Web3, especially NFTs, is what draws people to him.

While he has only been in the NFT space the last 18 months, he actually bought his first cryptocurrency back in 2017.

It’s been a real rollercoaster ride since then but despite everything, Youngsun has never lost hope for the growth potential of NFTs and Web3.

Why is Youngsun in Web3?

Youngsun’s interest in social products and communities stems from his belief that people will always enjoy connecting with those outside of our legacy connections such as race, ethnicity, and class.

"“Oh you love doodles”, “Oh you’re in ARC”. That just allows you to instantly connect based on the trust you have with the central platform.”

It is his faith and conviction in a social product or tokenized community, which facilitates such trusting bonds, that makes him bullish on the Web3 space.

While being down financially, he is still excited to see the technological advancements made since he joined 18 months ago.

“Case in point would be ARC. ARC now has a dedicated app for their community and it is a space where people can connect, interact, and provide opportunities, and I don’t think that was possible through a token gated app or service 2 years back.”

How has ARC impacted Youngsun?

Youngsun first met the ARC crew back in April 2023, during an event where many Stellars attended to support a fellow Stellar, Jun. And that gave him the impression of ARC as “a great crew”, seeing that many people come to rally around each other.

Though he is well connected in Korea, ARC has helped him unlock fresh networks to people he didn't have access to previously, especially those in other geographical locations such as Southeast Asia.

“I want to know more people that are cool that I don’t see on a daily basis. But how do I get connected to them?... There needs to be some sort of cross-pollinated community that I can access.”

And that is what ARC has provided him. The diversity within the community allows him to throw any question out and there will be at least 1 person who will be able to answer.

In response to whether ARC has been able to provide value to him:

“Yeah for sure! I think I've gotten more than what I paid already!"

What are some of your best memories in ARC?

Some of the best memories that Youngsun has of the community come from our exclusive Audio Room series ‘Stories Rediscovered’, where he got to be part of intimate conversations with people like @Zagabond and @9gagceo.

On a more serious note, the biggest fear for anyone in Web3 happened to Youngsun when he got his wallet drained. But he took comfort within the ARC community, where many fellow Stellars reached out to him, offering to lend support.

“The tangible things aside, I think that support just kind of shows what this community stands for. People relate to other people’s good stuff and bad stuff and try to hang together… and there’s something special there because I was relatively new to ARC.”

On a professional level, he was thankful to be able to lean on Stellars like @gabewiththehat when he needed connections to sponsors or speakers as an event organiser.

What are some of Youngsun’s future wishes for ARC?

Youngsun believes that the future of communities will be a lot more fluid, where people come and go, depending on whether they find resonance with the communities they become a part of.

But he sees that as a positive trend and a healthy sign as most communities weaken when there is a lack of new entrants.

His hope for ARC is for the community to continue growing and expanding across Asia while maintaining the diverse profile of individuals who all believe in the same vision for ARC.

Editor's Note:

Youngsun’s deep belief in the growth potential of NFTs has been a huge driver in his work to-date. From organising industry events that help others learn and understand more about NFTs to playing the critical role of a translator so that key insights and perspectives can be propagated and amplified, we are very privileged to have someone like Youngsun in our community.

감사합니다, Youngsun!