All terms
Key opinion leader. An influencer paid, usually in tokens, to promote a project.
KOL is the industry's own term for a paid promoter. Projects allocate a share of supply to accounts with reach, often at a discount or free, in exchange for posts. The arrangement is rarely disclosed and in many jurisdictions that non disclosure is illegal.
The incentive is worth stating plainly: a KOL who received tokens cheaply profits when you buy, and profits most when you buy at a higher price than they did. Their upside comes from your entry.
Assume any enthusiastic post about a small token is paid until shown otherwise. That is not cynicism, it is the base rate.
Twenty accounts posting about the same new token within the same hour, none of them mentioning an allocation.
That a promotion is an opinion. Most are paid, usually in tokens the promoter can sell once you have bought, and disclosure is inconsistent at best. Treat the endorsement as an advert with a friendly tone.
Common questions
Are KOL posts disclosed as paid?
How do I spot a paid campaign?
Where to go next
More culture terms
Want this explained out loud?
Some of these land faster in conversation than in writing. Sessions are one to one and you can ask anything, including the things that feel too obvious to ask.