Gamblino – Crafting the voice for GameFi protocol
Introduction
Gamblino is a decentralized on-chain gambling protocol built on Sei Network. The concept was bold: a fully permissionless, community-facing casino where everything plays out transparently on-chain — no middlemen, just pure degen fun. I was brought in at the early stage to help shape the brand’s identity and build its voice on Twitter — from zero.
Challenge
Gamblino needed to stand out in a noisy crypto market without sounding polished or corporate. We were targeting a specific crowd: degens who thrive on high-risk, high-reward plays and live across Discord, Telegram, and Twitter. They weren’t looking for a safe brand — they wanted something real, funny, and culturally in sync.
The challenge was to build credibility and hype from zero, using only tone, memes, and community culture
Strategy & Execution
I defined Gamblino’s brand personality as a rogue meme dealer - witty, sharp, and unapologetically degen. The tone was dry and self-aware, often referencing gambling psychology, the illusion of control, and the rush of winning (or losing) big.
Visually, we leaned into deep reds, dark greens, and sharp, bold graphics to evoke the feeling of a backroom casino. Content on Twitter was structured around everyday gambling culture, crypto humor, teaser updates, and community polls, keeping things light, fast, and easy to engage with.
The goal was to make Gamblino feel like a natural part of the degenerate trading and betting culture, not just another DeFi project.
I managed the Twitter content pipeline, from planning and copywriting to coordinating visuals, and maintained a consistent posting rhythm that kept the feed active and entertaining. Our content leaned heavily on meme formats, casino slang, and subtle nods to the psychology of risk-taking. Posts included things like “losses of the day,” rogue-dealer one-liners, and community polls like “Do you trust your gut or the chart?” — all tailored to feel like inside jokes among degens.
Tone-wise, I kept everything conversational and anti-corporate. The voice wasn’t there to explain features; it was there to stir emotions, make people laugh, and remind them that we get it — the rush, the tilt, the wins, the wipeouts. Even updates or teasers were framed with dry humor and cultural cues to keep users engaged without feeling sold to.
On the branding side, I helped define Gamblino’s early visual direction — choosing deep reds, dark greens, and sharp fonts to reflect a gritty, underground casino vibe. I also worked on shaping post layouts and graphic styles to keep content recognizable and scroll-stopping, even before the protocol went live.
CMO and I managed a content calendar and a small team of community managers and a graphic designer. We produced daily content for social media.
On Twitter (X), our approach was dynamic and culture-aware. We treated it not just as a news feed, but as the primary battleground for attention in Web3. I crafted a mix of:
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Educational threads explaining features like limit orders, LP strategies, and how DragonSwap worked on Sei’s parallelized EVM.
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Memes especially those referencing anime or crypto inside jokes were designed to boost shareability and engagement.
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Milestone shout-outs, like hitting $1B in volume or 100K users were shared with bold graphics and community tags.
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Community spotlights, featuring users who contributed fan art, won trading competitions, or shared helpful guides.
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Soft alpha teasers creating intrigue around upcoming features or partnerships while staying compliant.
On Twitter, we didn’t just post to the community — we spoke their language, using slang like “ser,” “wen,” “LFG,” and referencing crypto-native humor. We joined the conversations and became part of the crypto Twitter.
You can see social media content examples below:
Mainnet Launch & Airdrop: In the weeks before mainnet launch, we ran a countdown on Twitter, sharing snippets of the DragonSwap story and sneak peeks of the product. This culminated in an airdrop campaign for early followers and testers, rewarding them with $SEI. It created buzz and ensured we had thousands of users ready on day one.
Trading Competition: To boost on-chain activity and liquidity, I organized two major trading competitions post-launch. Round 1 was a “Genesis Trading Competition” with over $200,000 in rewards for top traders, which immediately spiked our trading volume and attracted power users. Round 2 followed a couple of months later with ~$50k in prizes, keeping the momentum and giving newcomers a second chance to win. These competitions not only drove volume but also generated a ton of user-generated content (as participants shared their progress on Twitter, bringing in organic publicity).
Ambassador Program: I launched the DragonSwap Ambassador Program to scale our community outreach. We recruited influential community members to act as DragonSwap champions. I provided them with training, content resources, and exclusive news to share. In return, they hosted local meet-ups, translated our announcements into other languages, and amplified our presence in various crypto communities. This program created a network effect, significantly expanding our reach beyond what our core team could do alone.
Results
Our hard work paid off quickly. In the first seven months after launch, DragonSwap’s growth exceeded expectations and established itself as the leading DeFi platform on Sei. Here are the key outcomes of our marketing efforts:
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Social Growth: Grew the Twitter (X) following to 100,000+ followers (from 0 at launch) by consistently engaging the crypto community with on-brand, viral content. Our Discord community similarly flourished, reaching 10,000+ members actively chatting, sharing tips, and hyping each other on trades.
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Content Reach: Amassed 1,500+ Medium subscribers to our blog, where we published regular updates and insights. Our articles and announcements frequently garnered thousands of reads and positioned DragonSwap as a thought leader in the Sei ecosystem.
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User Acquisition: Attracted over 160,000 unique users to the DragonSwap platform. By tapping into the “degen” culture and offering incentives like trading competitions, we converted social media followers into platform users at an impressive rate.
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Trading Volume & Liquidity: Drove more than $1.2 B in all-time trading volume on DragonSwap within 7 months – a figure that firmly put us on the map. (Notably, DragonSwap by this time held the highest trading volume on the Sei Network among all dApps. Total Value Locked (TVL) in our pools climbed to $55 M+, reflecting strong user trust in providing liquidity on our platform.
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Ecosystem Leadership: DragonSwap became widely recognized as Sei’s central DeFi hub”. We captured the majority of Sei’s DeFi market share, and our brand narrative (“Where Legends Trade”) became synonymous with the network’s burgeoning trading community. This reputational capital attracted multiple partnership opportunities and gave DragonSwap a voice in guiding Sei’s DeFi roadmap (a powerful position for a young project).
Jelena Zečević - CMO at NIMA (DragonSwap)
Milica has a great eye! She's one of those rare people who can take a scattered brief, spot the story, and turn it into something that looks and feels on-brand. She’s especially strong when it comes to brand identity and creative direction. During our early brand-building phase, she helped shape how we showed up and communicated visually.
There’s always a clear intention behind her work. She pays close attention to how everything fits together: color, tone, layout, and flow. Nothing feels random. Every choice is intentional and tied back to the story we’re telling.
On top of all that, she’s absolutely great to work with. She’s easy to talk to, always in a good mood, and just brings really good energy to the team.
