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

Author: New Things | Something

In the context of a bear market in the cryptocurrency industry, a mobile social trading app called FOMO has achieved explosive growth in just 18 months: users have exceeded 1.3 million, with about 30,000 new users added daily recently, and this week's transaction fee revenue surpassed $2 million, with a latest valuation of $550 million.

In August 2026, host Maurits conducted a 43-minute candid interview 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 Problems Does the App Aim to Solve and What is Its Core Vision?

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

The product must meet three criteria: seamless, social, and exciting. Traditional trading terminals require users to read complex public keys, wallet balance percentages, and cross-chain operations, which are extremely unfriendly to ordinary people. FOMO displays the cash balance in USD (rather than SOL/ETH) because when ordinary people see $100 turn into $98.52, they will directly think the platform has stolen money; once trust is lost, it is lost forever.

Se Yong emphasized: "People always measure success by valuation, funds, or fees, but what truly drives us is users and influence." The company philosophy is "If we are going to die, let’s die now," validating the product as early as possible rather than delaying.

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

Early growth was far more difficult than the outside world imagined. After raising funds from 140 angel investors, the team saw user numbers below 140 for several months. The real growth relied on the early core user group from May to July 2025, who provided daily feedback to help the product continuously iterate.

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

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

Se Yong entered the circle in 2021 through Avalanche (when there were leaked RPC nodes), quickly growing from a few hundred dollars to a mid-five-figure sum, having traded 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, investing about $10,000, and ultimately all made seven figures. Se Yong recognized the narrative and endorsement but felt it was "too troublesome" due to needing to set up a Rabby wallet, find cross-chain bridges, and choose front ends, ultimately missing out. This 45 seconds of friction directly led to the creation of FOMO—solving the "last mile" usability barrier for ordinary people.

His trading style is not the typical "trench player": he only makes a few plays with clear narratives each week, is not good at precisely timing the market, and tends to hold long-term. The best trades include GME tokens after the Roaring Kitty documentary and Pandora (ERC-404). He admits he is not good at scanning new pairs for 16 hours a day, which directly shaped FOMO's product direction of "designed for ordinary people."

Top Traders List (Top 5 Traders)

Se Yong provided an all-time "Mount Rushmore" level Top 5:

1. GCR (legendary GOAT, rumored to have insider connections at Binance)

2. Kobes (early high-confidence representative)

3. Flood (has extremely high confidence in hype narratives)

4. Ansem (accurately captures narratives like Solana and WIF, technical analysis may be ugly but often correct)

5. Change (currently ranked #1 on FOMO)

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

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

The KimChi incident has already broken the circle, with even ordinary people discussing it via text messages, 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, multiple eight-figure P&L will appear on FOMO within six months, and the Top 100 will completely change.

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

Top Content Creators (Top 5 Content Creators)

Se Yong provided the current top 5 crypto content creators (in no particular order):

1. Maurits himself (can truly bring the public into crypto, trading, and finance, with an attractive and aspirational quality)

2. Rasmus (generational performance, poker and Mars coin trading, strong live streaming ability)

3. ThreadBoi (undisputed, extending from crypto to financial content, consistently outputting good calls like Leopold)

4. Oranje (successfully onboarding ordinary people through YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, truly understands consumers)

5. Ansem (first a trader, then a creator, forming a unique perspective through Bubble, Moonshot, and Ansem coin)

These individuals will not only be names in the crypto circle but will become household names in the future. Content is the key engine for onboarding.

Why Trading Became Boring and What Changes Happened Later

During the darkest period of the bear market, there were three consecutive months without projects exceeding $10 million, with content all being shitposts and garbage.

The real problem is: after users made their first money from TikTok hype coins, they quickly lost it all because there was no information flow on "who is making money, holding what, and where the narrative is," ultimately leading to total loss.

FOMO solves this problem with social graphs and public leaderboards, allowing users to see top traders in real-time, read theses, and track momentum.

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

What is Fomo Clans: Explanation of the Community/Clan Function in the App

Clans are currently in early beta: users can join a small group (clan), see members' holdings in real-time, and participate in shared leaderboard competitions.

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

In the future, internal chat, direct recruitment from leaderboards, subscription features, shared vaults, and even shared addresses for receiving airdrops may be added.

Se Yong hopes to bring all the influence and monetization that was previously in the shadows into the open and transparent.

How FOMO Attracts Talented Individuals

The recruitment method is very unconventional: no public job postings, only seeking talent from trusted networks.

The core criteria are a true understanding of the vision, high integrity, and diligence.

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

"The ideal work state is doing cool things with friends." The team strength 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 be mobile-first.

Today's crypto apps can provide a smooth experience for ordinary people (previously, Web3 was cumbersome for crypto users).

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

The industry has burned billions but progressed slowly; now users are finally willing to stay long-term, no longer feeling that terminals are like "slaughterhouses."

The Design and Significance of Public PnLs and Leaderboards

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

More importantly, it accumulates social capital—public leaderboards prove strength, which is much more credible than self-posted P&L screenshots.

"P&L is temporary; legacy is eternal." Clans make team competition like sports or games.

Senior traders can gain aura, trading flow, and alpha through public records even if they do not produce content.

The Founder's Real Daily Life and Mental Journey

Se Yong's mornings are relatively quiet: tweeting, exercising, or thinking. During the day, he is almost online for 16-17 hours, with hardly any real "off work" time, even on vacation.

"This is the most invested thing since getting married and having children."

He repeatedly emphasizes welcoming competition: the goal is to expand the entire pie (benchmarking against Robinhood and Coinbase), rather than hiding in a small circle.

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

Finally Recommended Some Valuable Books and Podcasts

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

Classic books:

• "Zero to One" (Peter Thiel)

• "The Hard Thing About Hard Things" (Ben Horowitz)

• Frank Slootman's books

Modern content:

• All-In Podcast (especially related to Sacks, as well as interviews with Dyson and Shopify founder Tobi)

• Mickey Malca's content on Rubicon

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

The entire interview runs through a clear main line: FOMO is upgrading crypto trading from "small circle terminal wars" to a truly public financial social network.

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

Users, influence, and public transparency are their true North Star.

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