Gleb Kostarev's Journey: From Journalism to Crypto Innovation

Gleb Kostarev started as a finance journalist at RBC. He wrote about tech and crypto. Then his path wound through EY and Waves Platform. At Waves, he met Igor Pugachevsky. Important connection. They'd work together later.

Kostarev climbed ranks. Became VP. Huge responsibility. He looked after operations in over 60 countries across CIS, Turkey, APAC, and ANZ. Marketing was his thing. Operations too. He seemed particularly good at growing Asian markets.

The Birth of Blum

The Blum idea came from pain. Users struggled with token purchases. Pre-listing phases? Nightmare.

Kostarev and team had a thought. Why not build something inside Telegram? Something simple. They created this "tap-to-earn" thing. Falling stars. A button. Crypto rewards. Not complicated. Just works.

April 19, 2024 – Blum launches. Kind of crazy what happened next. They expected 100,000 users in three months. Got 1 million in a day. Tens of millions within a week. Nobody saw that coming.

Keys to Success

What made Blum explode? A few things:

• Super friendly interface. No registration. No login. Just tap.
• Industry reports suggest half the users were crypto newbies. Fresh blood.
• Telegram and TON mini-apps gave access to nearly 1 billion potential users. Massive.
• Backing from big names helped. People trust that.

Current Achievements and Status

By September 2025, Blum's numbers look impressive:

• 65 million registered users
• Zero to 1 million users in hours. Wild.
• DOGS Rewards worth $2.5 million
• Gateway to digital assets through Telegram. Easy entry.

Challenges and Future Directions

Not all smooth sailing. Issues emerged:

• Leaders changed. Original roadmap got shaky.
• Market expectations? Sky-high. Pressure about token listings.
• Some advanced features still cooking. Not ready yet.
• That "tap-to-earn" thing? Fun at first. Not enough for long-term stickiness.

Key Takeaways from Kostarev's Approach

1. Keep it simple. People respond to that.
2. Good roadmaps need execution. Ideas aren't enough.
3. Team matters. A lot. Market watches who's involved.
4. Don't overpromise. Expectations are tricky beasts.

Kostarev's background seems to shape his product vision. Journalism. Finance. Tech. It all feeds into making crypto more mainstream through Blum. Not entirely clear if he planned such massive success. Sometimes things just catch fire.