Gleb Kostarev began his career as a journalist at RBC, covering finance, technology, and crypto, worked at EY and on the Waves Platform, where he met Igor Pugachevsky (future partner at Blum). Joined Binance, where he rose to VP and head of the CIS, Turkey, APAC, and ANZ regions (over 60 countries).

Gleb led marketing, operations, and strategy, providing Binance with key growth in Asia.

💡 How the idea of Blum was born

The inspiration came from the pain of users: the complex UX of buying tokens, especially 'pre-listing'. Gleb Kostarev, Igor, and Vladimir Smerkis, previously together at Binance/Waves, aimed to create a simplicity-first DEX right in Telegram. The tap-to-earn mechanics were born as a blitz engagement tool, simple yet powerful: falling stars, a button, and crypto - what more do you need for happiness?)))

App launch - April 19, 2024: instead of a goal of 100,000 users in three months, the project reached 1 million in one day; within a week, there were tens of millions.

🚀 Why Blum 'took off'

User-oriented interface: no registration, logins, just 1 tap - the perfect way for beginners. According to Cointelegraph, 50% of users are newcomers to crypto.

Telegram + TON + mini-applications provided access to an audience of ~1 billion users.

Binance Labs supported the strategy: investment, partnership, trust.

🎭 Behind the scenes

(promises vs. reality)

✔️ What worked out

65 million registered users;

instant growth: from 0 to 1 million in hours;

The incentive system is established: DOGS Rewards at $2.5 million.

An entry point into DeFi was created through Telegram: mini-application + DEX + points for engagement.

⚠️ What went unmentioned

1. Smerkis was arrested for old projects (Tokenbox, Token Fund) for ~$15 million in lost funds; he left the team, and the contract with the token airdrop is in question.

2. High expectations for the listing and the BLUM token (promised launch in Q3 2025, but silence followed the arrest).

3. Product roadmap (DEX, derivative products are amazing, but implementation is still in progress; the team announced DEX by the end of 2024, but the interface is currently empty and trade-restricted)

4. UX engages but does not retain: tap-to-earn is good at the start, but the 'working' game model generates hundreds of millions of clicks, with little real economic activity.

🎤 Metaphors and numbers

Tap-to-earn is like a candy bar, sweet and quick, but empty after an hour. User growth is a rocket fueled purely by hype, but with no downward trajectory after launch. Uuuuffff. The temp listing is a train that didn't leave the platform: many cars were promised, but only the locomotive and a couple of empty cars arrived.

🎯 Results and lessons.

1. Ease of use - the engine of adoption. Don't complicate the content! Tap-to-earn worked brilliantly.

2. The strategy must have execution: the roadmap for DEX, derivatives, and listing - this is great advertising, but without execution - emptiness.

3. The team is key to trust (the arrest of the CMO, even if not Blum's fault, strikes a blow to reputation).

4. Manage expectations; promises (listing, token launch) must be supported by facts.

Blum Blum!

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