Getting Polygon (POL) into My Wallet in Korea — Customer Service Calls, Withdrawal Limits, and That Ten Thousand Won — Riel build logs

To deploy a smart contract to the actual blockchain (mainnet), I needed a tiny amount of POL (Polygon coin) for fees (gas). I thought, "I'll just buy some coins," but — in Korea in 2026, there were two major hurdles. The first was buying them (I got a call from customer service), and the bigger one was transferring them to my wallet (withdrawals were blocked).

This post reveals all the know-how — how I navigated the customer service call, and the process of waiting for the withdrawal to resume and moving it to my personal wallet that very day.

I'm a developer building a service solo in Korea. I only write about things I've actually experienced. (This is a continuation of the previous post, Minting an NFT Certificate of Completion.)

1. Why I Needed POL — And Why I Started with Testnet

To deploy a contract or issue an NFT, you need to pay gas (fees) for that chain. On Polygon, that's POL. The amount isn't large — a few hundred won worth is enough for a few deployments and issuances. The problem was "how do I get those few hundred won?"

On the first day I tried, I couldn't proceed due to restrictions. So, I put the mainnet aside for a moment and took a detour via the free testnet (Amoy). Testnets are practice chains that run on fake coins (from a free faucet), so I could write my contract and pass all 13 tests without needing POL.

This is how I work —

I try it first. If I hit a wall, I find a workaround. If the best option (mainnet) isn't possible, I start with the next best (testnet). I check when the conditions are met and try again on that day.

I completed everything on the testnet and then moved to the mainnet on the day I could use POL.

2. The Upbit Route — Why I Chose a Korean Exchange

To buy POL, I needed a cryptocurrency exchange. For an individual, a domestic exchange where I can buy directly with Korean won and where my identity is already verified is the most practical. I went with Upbit. The prerequisite is what everyone knows — linking a real-name bank account + identity verification (KYC). So far, it was a standard signup process, nothing to worry about. The real gates were the next two.

3. ★ The First Hurdle — I Got a Call from Customer Service

When I tried to buy POL, it didn't execute immediately. It went into "Received" status, and shortly after, I actually received a call from customer service.

"What is the purpose of your purchase?" — I honestly answered, "For development testing" (as I was indeed experimenting with deploying contracts and issuing NFTs for my service).
Then, identity verification.

Only after this call was I able to make the purchase. It was surprising at first, but I understood why — Korea implements a step where a human directly verifies the purpose in certain situations to prevent crypto from being used for voice phishing and money laundering. The key point is that it's not automated; it involves a conversation with a real agent.

💡 What I learned: When asked about the "purpose," just state your actual purpose honestly. Legitimate reasons like development or testing will pass. There's no need to rush an explanation or be evasive.

4. Just Ten Thousand Won — Gas is Cheaper Than You Think

After passing the purpose verification, I only bought ₩10,000 worth. Polygon gas fees are small; this was enough for several deployments and numerous NFT issuances. The idea that "doing blockchain costs a lot of money" is a misconception — for experiments on Polygon, the cost is about the same as a cup of coffee. The truly expensive parts were not the money but the time and procedures. And the highlight of those procedures was the next step.

5. ★★ The Second Hurdle — Transferring Purchased POL to My Wallet

This was the real challenge. The POL I bought was still inside the exchange. To use it for contract deployment, I needed to withdraw it to my personal wallet (Polygon address), but — this external withdrawal was restricted in Korea.

Travel Rule: A regulation that requires exchanges to verify the identity of the recipient's wallet when sending crypto to an external wallet. You can't just send it to any address.
Furthermore, at that time, POL withdrawals themselves were intermittently open and closed. I couldn't withdraw it on any given day.

So, the method I chose was "Official Channel + Timing," not a workaround (trick):

Upbit has an official feature to withdraw to a personal wallet registered and verified under my name (a legitimate path that complies with the Travel Rule).
However, there's a separate day when POL withdrawals are opened — so I checked and tracked the withdrawal resumption dates and,
On that specific day, I transferred the POL to my registered personal wallet.

In essence, I didn't break through the wall, but rather timed it to when the wall opened. I complied with the Travel Rule (by registering my personal wallet) and passed through the window by checking and waiting for the day withdrawals resumed.

6. What I Gained

Looking back — getting this "handful of coins into my wallet" was a bigger hurdle than the technology (contracts). And through this process, I understood the real-world limitations, not just theoretical ones:

In Korea, crypto has hurdles for both buying (customer service purpose verification) and withdrawing (Travel Rule/withdrawal restrictions).
Especially, exchanging → personal wallet withdrawals don't happen any day — you need to check resumption dates and time it right.
However, the cost itself is enough with ten thousand won (Polygon gas is cheap).
When blocked, I made progress on testnet and moved to mainnet when conditions were met — this rhythm saved time.

Because I tried, I learned the actual location and how to open these walls, and I won't be lost next time. This is knowledge I bought with ten thousand won, not just read in a blog.

In the next post, I'm switching gears completely — I'll talk about "Trying to create YouTube Shorts videos with AI, and eventually subscribing to a paid service."