FOMO Co-founder Se Yong in-depth interview: Traders are becoming the new generation of influencers.

Against the backdrop of the cryptocurrency industry still being in a bear market, a mobile social trading app called FOMO has achieved explosive growth within just 18 months: user numbers have surpassed 1.3 million, recent daily new users are about 30,000, this week the transaction fee revenue exceeded $2 million, and the latest valuation reached $550 million. (Related reading: Bear Market Comeback Case: How FOMO Uses Social Trading to Launch Its On-Chain Breakthrough?)

In August 2026, host Maurits conducted an unreserved interview lasting 43 minutes with FOMO co-founder Se Yong (@seyong).

The following is a complete outline of the core content structured by interview timestamps.

FOMO's Mission: What Problem Does the App Aim to Solve, What Is Its Core Vision

Se Yong clearly stated that FOMO is not just another crypto trading terminal, but "a trading app for the rest of us." The core vision is to become a social graph of finance, allowing users to seamlessly trade any assets, ultimately covering 7-8 billion people globally.

The product must meet three conditions: seamless, social, and exciting. Traditional trading terminals require users to read complicated public keys, wallet balance percentages, and cross-chain operations, which are extremely unfriendly to the average person. FOMO displays balances in US dollars (rather than SOL/ETH) because when an average person sees $100 turn into $98.52, they might think the platform stole money, and once trust is lost, it is lost forever.

Se Yong emphasized: "People often measure success in terms of valuation, funds, or fees, but what truly drives us is users and influence." The company's philosophy is "if we're going to fail, let's fail now," validating products as early as possible instead of procrastinating.

Real Stories of the First 100 Users: How to Start from Zero, Where Early Users Came From

Early growth was much tougher than the outside world imagined. After raising funds from 140 angel investors, the user count was below 140 for several consecutive months. The real growth relied on an early core user group from May to July 2025, who provided daily feedback and helped the product continuously iterate.

Se Yong particularly thanked this batch of early users: "I am very grateful for the early cohort from May 2025." The strategy was to serve the first 50-100 users well, seriously listen to their real needs, rather than rushing for scale. What the outside world saw was a mature product, but the actual process was filled with trial and error.

Se's Own Trading Experience: His Life in the Trading Circle Before Entrepreneurship

Se Yong entered the trading circle through Avalanche in 2021 (when RPC nodes were leaked) and rapidly grew from a few hundred dollars to a mid-five-figure amount, trading almost all mainstream chains: Ethereum, BNB, Tron, Solana, various L2s, Sui, Injective, etc.

The key story happened about two years ago: friends discovered the Keira coin on Base, invested about $10,000, and eventually all earned seven figures. Se Yong acknowledged the narrative and endorsement but found it "too troublesome" because he had to set up a Rabby wallet, find a cross-chain bridge, and choose a frontend, ultimately missing out. This 45 seconds of friction directly led to the birth of FOMO — aiming to solve the "last mile" usage barriers for the average person.

His trading style is not the typical "trench player": he only engages in a few plays with a clear narrative each week, is not skilled at perfectly timing market tops, and tends to favor long-term holding. Best trades include GME tokens after the Roaring Kitty documentary and Pandora (ERC-404). He admitted he is not good at scanning new pairs for 16 hours a day, which directly shaped FOMO's product direction of being "designed for the average person."

Top Trader List (Top 5 Traders)

Se Yong provided a "Mount Rushmore" level Top 5 of all time:

GCR (legendary GOAT, rumored to have insider knowledge from Binance)
Kobes (early high-confidence representative)
Flood (has extremely high confidence in speculative narratives)
Ansem (accurately captures narratives like Solana and WIF; technical analysis may be ugly but often correct)
Change (currently ranked #1 on FOMO)

He particularly pointed out that some individuals are already active on FOMO, but what they truly anticipate is the rise of a new generation of publicly recorded traders.

KimChi Effect: Traders Are Becoming the New Generation of Celebrities/Influencers

The KimChi event has broken through circles, with even ordinary people texting each other to discuss it, which Se Yong sees as an extremely bullish signal. "The next KimChi will be born on FOMO."

He predicts that when the real bull market arrives, FOMO will see multiple eight-figure P&L within six months, and the Top 100 will completely change.

"P&L are temporary, but legacies are eternal. Money may disperse, and fame may fade, but publicly available trading records will be remembered forever." Traders are becoming the new generation of stars, and their influence will surpass that of traditional celebrities.

Why Trading Became Boring, and What Changes Happened Later

During the darkest periods of the bear market, there were three consecutive months without a project exceeding $10 million, with content all being shitpost and junk.

The real problem lies in the fact that after users make their first money through popular coins on TikTok, they quickly lose it all, as there is no information flow on "who is making money, what they hold, and where the narrative is," leading to a total loss of users.

FOMO solved this problem through a social graph and public leaderboard, allowing users to see top traders in real-time, read theses, and track momentum.

The result is a decrease in average trade size (with an increase in long-tail users), but the overall pie has grown significantly. Currently, most users are from outside Crypto Twitter (TikTok, Instagram, word-of-mouth recommendations).

What Fomo Clans Are: Explanation of the Community/Clan Feature in the App

Clans are currently in early beta: users can join a clan, see members' positions in real time, and participate in shared leaderboard competitions.

The goal is to extend transparency to all categories such as perpetual contracts, prediction markets, spot trading, and yield. "Trading should be a social and team sport."

Future additions may include internal chat, direct recruitment from leaderboards, subscription functions, shared vaults, and even shared addresses for easing airdrop reception.

Se Yong hopes to bring the previously shadowy influence and monetization into the realm of public transparency.

How FOMO Attracts Talented Individuals

The recruitment method is very unconventional: no public job postings, only searching for talent within a trusted network.

Core standards include genuinely understanding the vision, high integrity, and diligence.

Retention relies on three points: fair treatment, genuinely interesting work, and a culture that supports self-growth and comfort.

"The ideal work state is to do cool things with friends." The strength of the team is increasing, but the core culture remains unchanged.

Everything is Shifting to Mobile

The number of mobile users far exceeds that of computers; like Robinhood and Webull, crypto trading must prioritize mobile.

Current crypto apps can already provide a smooth experience for average users (previously, Web3 was cumbersome even for crypto users).

Se Yong especially thanked designer Chelsea, calling her the GOAT, someone who truly understands people and products.

The industry has burned tens of billions in funds yet progressed slowly; now users are finally willing to stay long-term and no longer feel that terminals are like "slaughterhouses."

Design and Significance of Public PnLs and Leaderboards

The core selling point for traders: fastest cross-chain trading (currently 3-5 seconds, with a target of 1 second, no bridging required).

More importantly, it accumulates social capital — a public leaderboard proves strength and is far more credible than simply sharing P&L screenshots.

"P&L are temporary, but legacies are eternal." Clans make team competition akin to sports or gaming.

Senior traders, even if not producing content, can obtain a halo, trading flow, and alpha through public records.

The Founder’s Real Daily Life and Journey

Se Yong's mornings are relatively quiet: tweeting, exercising, or thinking. He is online almost 16-17 hours a day, rarely truly "off work," and even vacationing is hard to fully disconnect from.

"This is the most engaged I've ever been since getting married and having children."

He repeatedly emphasizes welcoming competition: the goal is to expand the entire pie (benchmarking against Robinhood and Coinbase), not to hide in a small circle.

The greatest risk for the company is "never having a crisis." What drives him is always influence, not personal wealth.

Lastly Recommended Some Valuable Books and Podcasts

Se Yong employs a "barbell strategy": classics + modern.

Classic books:

Zero to One (Peter Thiel)
The Hard Thing About Hard Things (Ben Horowitz)
Books by Frank Slootman

Modern content:

All-In Podcast (especially Sacks related, and interviews with Dyson and Shopify founder Tobi)
Mickey Malca's content on Rubicon

He learns the spirit of "doing and showcasing" from these modern mass inventors.

The entire interview runs through a clear mainline: FOMO is upgrading cryptocurrency trading from "small circle terminal wars" to a truly public-facing financial social network.

Se Yong, through his personal experience of missing a seven-figure trade, his extreme emphasis on trust, and his long-term perspective on "legacy," outlines a unique entrepreneurial path.

Users, influence, and public transparency are their true north stars.

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