How to Grow Your DeFi TVL to $340K/Month with Web2 Users

Discover how we helped a DeFi project attract Web2 investors by translating complex staking mechanics into familiar financial language—growing fiat purchases from $0 to $340,000/month in just 6 months through education-driven marketing and regionally adapted strategies.

Category:

$340K

Fiat purchases /month

7×

ROI

60%

Web2 users

$0.12 CPC

CPC

About Client

Our client is a DeFi project (under NDA) offering an algorithmic stablecoin with a staking mechanism yielding 16% APY. While intuitive for crypto-native users, the model appeared suspicious to traditional investors—raising red flags around trust and risk.

Services Performed

DeFi Growth Starts with Trust

Let’s reframe your message for trust, clarity, and fiat adoption.

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Project Goals

1. Attract Web2 Investors into DeFi

Convert fiat-first users who are unfamiliar—and skeptical—of DeFi mechanisms.

2. Overcome the “Too Good to Be True” Barrier

Position 16% APY as credible and understandable within traditional investment logic.

3. Create Scalable, Trust-Driven Marketing Infrastructure

Build a foundation that could scale into new markets and economic climates.

4. Develop Tailored Product Onramps for Traditional Users

Launch investor-friendly solutions for conservative, high-capital audiences.

Approach

1. User Research & Messaging Reframing

We interviewed 30+ Web2 users to uncover the trust barriers. Key concerns included:

“Where does 16% come from? Sounds like a pyramid.”
“Will I be able to withdraw my money?”
“If this is legit, why aren’t banks offering it?”

We then translated DeFi terminology into Web2-friendly explanations:

DeFi Term	Web2 Explanation
Algorithmic stablecoin	Digital dollar backed by a smart formula
Volatile token backing	Like a gold standard—but with digital assets
16% APY	Return generated from appreciating reserves

We supported this with:

Simple visuals of protocol mechanics
Risk scenarios: “what happens if…”
Traditional finance comparisons
Transparent FAQ addressing user fears

2. Localized Messaging: Belarus Case

During political unrest and currency flight in Belarus, we localized creatives:

“Where to invest your BYN before it crashes?”
“Digital dollars for Belarusians”
“Can’t buy USD in Belarus? Try this.”

Results:

9,000+ clicks at $0.12 CPC (lowest in campaign)
Surge in interest from previously unreachable users

3. Product Solutions for Conservative Investors

We built an OTC investment platform for fiat-focused, large-ticket investors:

Minimum investment: $50,000
1-on-1 onboarding with dedicated account managers
Transparent operations with off-exchange liquidity

Result:
Immediate adoption from high-net-worth users previously hesitant due to unfamiliarity or withdrawal fears.

4. Web2 Audience Acquisition Channels

Search Ads with Educational Funnels

Queries: “where to invest,” “high yield savings,” “safe alternatives to banks”
Split testing educational vs promotional approaches

Influencer Marketing

Partnered with financial YouTubers, not crypto-native voices
Framed the product as an alternative to deposits, not as “DeFi”

PR in Traditional Financial Media

Publications: Seeking Alpha, business columns
Positioned as a fintech innovation, not a crypto gamble

Key Insights

Web2 ≠ Simpler DeFi: It requires a completely different communication stack and UX.
High Yield = High Trust Barrier: 16% APY must be fully explained, not just stated.
Macroeconomics Can Be Your Ally: Regional crises create demand for alternative finance—if framed properly.
Whales Want White-Glove Service: Conservative capital demands personalized product paths.

Results

$0 → $340K/month

in fiat purchases

7×

ROI from marketing spend

60%

Web2 investors (vs 0% initially)

Lower volatility

shift from speculators to long-term holders

Geographic penetration

into traditional finance regions

New product vertical

(OTC) launched and adopted

Conclusion

This case demonstrates that Web2 adoption in DeFi isn’t about dumbing down the message—it’s about reframing it to match investor psychology, trust expectations, and financial logic.

By educating users, localizing messaging, and adapting the product for traditional markets, we successfully bridged the Web2–DeFi gap—and turned skepticism into deposits.

ICODA Expertise

We specialize in:

Translating complex DeFi into clear Web2 language
Building trust through education-first marketing
Adapting strategy to geopolitical and regional realities
Launching product extensions that broaden your TAM

We turn niche DeFi into mainstream financial tools—by aligning with how traditional investors think.

Testimonials

Valerii Brizhatiuk

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Our experience with ICODA was wonderful. Professionalism, high efficiency, and autonomy in production gave us only good impressions.

Sergei Beliaev

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Very much enjoyed working with ICODA. Great ongoing communication with the team. Genuine interest in our business and ability to adjust the approach along the way to maximize traction. Highly recommended!

Laura Geng

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ICODA has been a great resource for helping us grow our social media apparatus. I highly recommend ICODA. They provided prompt responses and helped us a lot in promotion in Korean market.

Bahram Ahmedzade

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We were happy to meet ICODA so early on our journey. Their understanding of what we need was actually much clearer than our own. The team offered a few tools and they were well explained. We picked the airdrops and the youtube influencers. Overall satisfaction is 100/100 and we will definitely come back again.

Aaron Tsai

LinkedIn Profile

ICODA is very knowledgeable about the blockchain industry and has a professional team to help our investor and strategic partner originations. The services they provide are of high quality. What convinced us to work with ICODA is their multiple outsourcing services offering, including marketing and technology.

Irene C.

LinkedIn Profile

ICODA did a great job on our partnership, the staff delivers great support also and I highly recommend their services. We will be working with them again for all our promotional work. Thank you ICODA and Anna, very happy customer here.

Shenshen Hu

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A pleasure to work with, ICODA is very professional and has deep industry knowledge in the local market. Always reply promptly and offer creative solutions.

Hannah Kang

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ICODA was willing to help us in hard circumstances. It was amazing what the team can do in such a short time. Work on PR, Youtube, and Twitter influencers was amazing. Great experience. Willing to work with them long-term.

James O'Connor

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ICODA provided us with the upmost professional quality standard of work and connected our PR articles to many top-tier PR platforms. Always prompt with their replies and provide transparency and clarity when needed.

Dmitriy Dervoed

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ICODA team has performed really great results in the development of marketing strategy, PPC campaigns, SEO, Email marketing, and more for our company. Alex is one of the best project managers. He applies the most efficient ways to achieve the results that make a strong influence on the business's growth.

Vid David Mihelic

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ICODA team has a very professional approach and moreover, they always find solutions for any given problem. They are responsive, loyal, and always trying to help.

Jia Yung

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We worked with ICODA with the specific goal of entering Russian and Ukrainian markets. To that end, we benefited from ICODA's know-how and professionalism in entering this specific market.

Charlie Bussat

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We've tried using different agencies for the Russian market. ICODA went out of its way and delivered high-quality content and advice to enter this complicated market. We'll definitely work again with Vlad and his team.

Terry Na

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Working with a team outside Korea often feels a little risky – will they understand the native language, the nuances, details? Well, I can say that the interactions I have had with ICODA have been better than most of my Korea-based partners.

Arabdha Sudhir

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I worked with ICODA on our project. I found them to be very professional and attentive at all times. Dealing with issues & challenges speedily. They have great expertise in and around crypto marketing and promotion.

Henning Rokling

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Friendly staff, accommodating and easy to work with. Generally, ICODA is great to deal with. We also appreciate the quality of the work.

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