Alexandre Philippine

Alexandre Philippine is a crypto investor, advisor and market strategist whose work focuses heavily on helping blockchain projects navigate the commercial and institutional landscape of South Korea and Japan. He is the founder and principal of Kelpie Capital, a Seoul-based investment and advisory firm where his work includes corporate partnerships, exchange strategy, protocol positioning and selective co-investment across Northeast Asia. His earlier experience spans Korea Blockchain Week, CoinTelegraph Korea, four years as a business-side due-diligence partner for Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Web3 integration program, and external advisory work on Bitcoin and digital-asset policy. This profile focuses on his verified roles and does not present marketing or performance claims as established facts.

Founder Snapshot

1. About Alexandre Philippine

Alexandre Philippine is a Seoul-based crypto investor, market strategist and advisor. His career path runs from economics research and traditional finance into the Korean blockchain ecosystem, Web3 consulting, corporate digital-asset integration, policy advisory, and Northeast Asian crypto investment and market-entry strategy. He is relevant to crypto primarily through commercial, strategic and investment-focused work — helping protocols enter Korea and Japan through partnerships, exchange readiness and selective investment — rather than through protocol engineering or cryptography.

2. Academic Background

Per his own professional website and LinkedIn profile, Philippine completed a PhD in Economics at Seoul National University with a focus on innovation and technology, and spent time as a visiting fellow at Bocconi University in Milan. His LinkedIn profile also lists an LLM in IP & Tech Law from Seoul National University. His doctoral research at SNU provided the foundation for later OECD-related policy work on Bitcoin and digital assets. This profile reports these credentials as self-disclosed on his official professional channels; readers seeking independent academic verification should consult Seoul National University and Bocconi records directly.

3. Morgan Stanley

Per his own professional website and Kelpie Capital, Philippine worked as an M&A consultant at Morgan Stanley in 2019, with involvement in a reported $3.2 billion healthcare acquisition. This profile describes his role as a consultant on the transaction and does not imply that he personally led or executed the entire deal. M&A consulting roles typically involve supporting broader deal teams rather than leading transactions individually.

4. Korea Blockchain Week & FactBlock

Per his own professional website and Kelpie Capital, Philippine served as Head of Sponsorships & Partnerships at FactBlock / Korea Blockchain Week from 2018 to 2019. His own site describes him as “co-organizing Korea Blockchain Week when it was Asia’s flagship event.” This role helped connect international crypto companies with the Korean market through sponsor relationships and event partnerships. This profile does not imply he founded Korea Blockchain Week; his role was in sponsorships and partnerships within the FactBlock / KBW organization.

5. CoinTelegraph Korea

Per his own professional website and Kelpie Capital, Philippine served as Director of Consulting Services at CoinTelegraph Korea from 2019 to 2021. This was a consulting/business role focused on blockchain project advisory and market-entry work — distinct from CoinTelegraph’s editorial operations. This profile does not imply that Philippine controlled CoinTelegraph’s editorial coverage; the consulting division operated separately from the newsroom.

6. Samsung Electronics & Web3 Integration

Per his own professional website, Kelpie Capital, and LinkedIn, Philippine worked with Samsung Electronics from 2020 to 2024 as a DApp business due-diligence partner focused on the Galaxy Web3 integration program. His LinkedIn describes this as “the exclusive business-side sourcing function for Samsung’s mobile division.” His own site describes it as “four years as the business-side due diligence partner for Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Web3 integration program.” This was an external partner/consultant relationship, not a Samsung executive or employee role. His responsibilities included evaluating blockchain projects for potential integration into the Samsung Blockchain Wallet and Galaxy Store ecosystem.

7. MultiversX / Elrond & Samsung

Per Kelpie Capital’s official website, Philippine structured and facilitated the partnership between Elrond (now MultiversX) and Samsung Electronics, resulting in ERD token integration into the Samsung Blockchain Wallet and a Galaxy Store exclusive DApp. This integration was reported by The Block in February 2020 (“Samsung Blockchain Wallet Adds Support for Elrond Token”) and is listed in the press section of his own professional website. This profile describes his contribution as partnership facilitation and does not imply he developed MultiversX or the Samsung Blockchain Wallet — he facilitated the business relationship between the two organizations.

8. Hdac & CasperLabs

Per Kelpie Capital’s official website, Philippine worked with Hdac Technology — the blockchain venture founded by Hyundai BS&C CEO Dae Sun Chung and backed by the Hyundai group — on partnership and ecosystem development, including a strategic MOU with CasperLabs. Hdac’s enterprise blockchain was applied across Hyundai manufacturing and IoT infrastructure, reported by CoinDesk and PR Newswire. Philippine’s contribution was in partnership and ecosystem facilitation, not in developing the Hdac or CasperLabs protocols themselves.

9. Digital Asset Policy Advisory

Per his own professional website, Kelpie Capital, and LinkedIn, Philippine served from 2020 to 2021 as a mandated external advisor to the OECD on Bitcoin and digital-asset policy. His LinkedIn clarifies that this was a “formal mandate as external advisor on Bitcoin and digital assets policy, originating from EU Commission research conducted during doctoral work at Seoul National University.” This was an external advisor role, not an OECD staff position. This profile does not suggest he represented OECD policy positions in any official capacity; he contributed external advisory input as part of a research-linked mandate.

10. Kelpie Capital

Kelpie Capital is Philippine’s principal current venture. Per its official website (kelpie.capital), it is a Seoul-based investment and advisory firm focused on helping blockchain protocols enter the South Korean and Japanese markets. Kelpie Capital operates at the intersection of crypto investment, advisory and Asian market-entry strategy. Its three core service areas are: Corporate BD (partnership structuring with Korean chaebol and Japanese institutions), Exchange Readiness (preparing protocols for credible Korean exchange listing conversations), and Selective Co-Investment (taking positions in protocols where the Korea/Japan opportunity is structurally underpriced). Per the firm’s website, it has operated across Korea and Japan since 2018 with 50+ protocol advisory, BD and market-entry mandates. This profile does not call Kelpie Capital a regulated investment fund unless its legal structure supports that description.

11. Entering the South Korean Crypto Market

South Korea is one of the highest per-capita crypto adoption markets in the world, and it differs from many other crypto markets in several ways. The market is retail-driven, exchange-gated, and relationship-dependent. Local exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Gopax) dominate KRW trading, and exchange listings are a major determinant of a protocol’s Korean market trajectory. Success depends on local business partnerships, regulatory compliance under Korea’s Virtual Asset User Protection Act, community behavior, local-language communications, and institutional relationships. Philippine’s work at Kelpie Capital operates within this context — helping protocols position correctly before approaching Korean exchanges and corporates. This profile does not imply that Philippine or Kelpie Capital can control or guarantee exchange listings; they advise projects preparing for exchange-market entry.

12. Exchange Strategy

Per Kelpie Capital’s official website, the firm advises projects preparing for exchange-market entry in Korea, with experience navigating the Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Gopax ecosystems. The firm’s approach covers listing readiness assessment, Korean market narrative and positioning, community and marketing pre-listing, and exchange relationship management. Kelpie Capital and Alexandre Philippine do not guarantee exchange listings, pay for unauthorized listings, control exchange decisions, or bypass due diligence. The firm’s own wording is that it “advises projects preparing for exchange-market entry” and that “a listing is a trust and positioning exercise.”

13. Japan Market Strategy

Japan is a regulatory-first market with serious institutional appetite, distinct from Korea’s retail-driven exchange-gated structure. Per Kelpie Capital, entry into Japan requires cultural precision and credible introductions, and the protocols that win in Japan “arrived correctly and stayed consistent over time.” Japan’s crypto market involves exchange regulation under the Financial Services Agency (FSA), specific token listing rules, local corporate partnerships, and a long-horizon institutional approach. This profile does not conflate Japan and South Korea into a single regulatory environment; Kelpie Capital’s work extends into Japan with market-appropriate positioning.

14. Kelpie Capital Track Record

Per Kelpie Capital’s official website, the firm reports 50+ protocol advisory, BD and market-entry mandates since 2018, operating across Korea and Japan. Selected partnership details are available privately due to confidentiality. This profile publishes only the verified aggregate figure from the firm’s official site and does not republish older cumulative performance statistics (such as total capital raised, number of exchange listings facilitated, or number of protocols advised) that appear in third-party biographies without independent supporting evidence.

15. Crypto Investment

Kelpie Capital’s investment model, per its official website, involves selective co-investment in protocols where the Korea and Japan opportunity is structurally underpriced. The firm takes positions from seed to Series A and token positions, and provides hands-on regional support post-investment rather than passive checks. Specific portfolio companies are not publicly listed on the firm’s site. This profile does not reveal private investment terms or name investments that have not been publicly disclosed by Kelpie Capital, the portfolio company, or reliable investment databases.

16. Skry Labs

Per Skry Labs’ official website (skrylabs.com), X account (@SkryLabs), and Philippine’s LinkedIn profile, Alexandre Philippine is a Co-Founder / Founding Partner at Skry Labs. Per his LinkedIn, he “founded and scaled SkryLabs into a global strategy partner for Web3 founders” with a team covering tokenomics, GTM, legal and regulatory compliance. Skry Labs is described as a Web3 strategy partner firm. This profile does not confuse Skry Labs with unrelated companies sharing the “Skry” name.

17. Crypto Markets, Regulation & Institutional Access

Philippine’s career spans crypto projects, traditional finance, exchange strategy, corporate partnerships, policy and market entry. A protocol’s success in Korea or Japan may depend on more than technology alone — factors include regulation, local distribution, exchange access, institutional trust, corporate integrations, language and localization, and market structure. His work sits at this intersection, where commercial relationships and regulatory positioning can determine whether a technically strong protocol gains regional traction.