Four months into my time at YAP Global, I’ve found myself thinking about what doing PR in digital assets has taught me – and what feels different from the B2B tech world I came from.
In tech, the word (at one point) that kept coming up was disruptive. SaaS was disruptive. Automation was disruptive. Emerging technology was, well, emerging.
The subject matter has changed since then, but the fundamental challenge of PR hasn’t: figuring out what matters, why it matters, and how to make someone else care.
The difference? In digital assets, the conversation rarely stays still for long.
Keeping up with the pace
My first few months were a crash course in market developments, regulatory changes and technical concepts I hadn’t previously had to work with.
In digital assets, the learning curve doesn’t stop at understanding the terminology. Regulatory developments can shift the conversation, new applications emerge, and a headline that matters today can quickly give way to something else tomorrow.
The challenge is knowing what deserves attention. It’s easy to follow every development, but the real work lies in understanding the bigger picture well enough to recognise what matters, why it matters and whether there’s a story worth telling.
Knowing when to change gears
One thing that has struck me is just how wide the digital assets industry is. There’s the institutional side, with its focus on regulation, infrastructure and financial markets. Then there’s the community side, where the language can be full of references and memes that make perfect sense if you’re in on it.
Both are part of the same industry, but communicating with them isn’t the same exercise. Sometimes, making a complex idea accessible means explaining the technology. Other times, it means understanding the cultural shorthand that already makes sense to your audience.
The range of use cases is expanding too, reaching areas well beyond the parts of the industry that tend to dominate headlines. For PR, that means looking beyond the technology itself and finding the angle that makes a story relevant to the people you’re trying to reach.
It’s not just about speed
I joined YAP thinking my job would be to make digital assets less technical. That still matters, but I’m increasingly aware that good PR isn’t simply about keeping up with the pace of an industry. It’s about knowing where to focus, what matters to your audience and when a development is worth pursuing.
A few things have become clearer to me:
- Keep your eyes on the track. Follow the wider industry, but know where your story fits and what makes it relevant.
- Know when to change gears. Different audiences approach digital assets from different starting points. The story needs to meet them where they are.
- Speed ≠ strategy. Being quick to respond matters, but understanding the bigger picture is what helps you respond well.
The more I learn about this space, the more I realise there is still plenty to learn. And in an industry that moves this quickly, that is part of what keeps the work interesting.
The sprint to TOKEN2049
TOKEN week brought a full-throttle schedule of its own. Between our work as official PR partners for Digital Assets Summit, Stablecoin Summit and Vault Summit, there were client interviews to facilitate, side events across the island and long days that often rolled into dinners and team conversations.
One moment I’d be at a podcast studio in the west, the next I’d be heading east for a client speaking at a side event. It was a reminder that the work behind a conference week extends well beyond the main stage.
What made it particularly special was seeing the team show up with the same energy and enthusiasm. We had two very new members finding their feet and one heading into their final week with us, yet everyone brought the same commitment to making the week work.
And just as TOKEN week wrapped up, Singapore shifted gears for the F1 Grand Prix. TOKEN2049 had a few F1 drivers making an appearance, but that was one pit stop I missed!
In PR, as in racing, speed gets you moving. Knowing where you’re going, and having the right people alongside you, makes all the difference.
