Istanbul Blockchain Week: Islamic Finance and Web3 on Stage
Istanbul, the ”financial hub” of Turkey, is a popular event and organization destination. It’s a short flight from Dubai and London. The city’s central location allows event organizers to tailor their events to the needs of both Eastern and Western cultures, as was the case with Istanbul Blockchain Week 2023.
IBW 2023 held on August 22-23 at Hilton Istanbul Bomonti saw thousands of local and international enthusiasts join the discussion on Crypto, Blockchain and Web3 in Istanbul. The event’s agenda was tailored to reflect various discussions within the Web3 ecosystem. It included keynotes on artificial intelligence (AI), regulations, Web3 gaming and real-world blockchain use cases.
At the IBW 2023 there were regional-specific lectures on Islamic finance, Sharia-compliant Web3 and other topics. Due to the explosive growth of Web3 and crypto in the UAE (particularly in Dubai) as well as the UAE’s interest in the Turkish market, EAK Digital chose a suitable time frame. This year’s conference took place just nine months after IBW 2020.
Erhan Korhaliller is the founder and CEO of EAK Digital. He said holding the August event in Istanbul was a strategic decision. Erhan Korhaliller, Founder and CEO of EAK Digital, stated that summers in Dubai are too hot for major events. That’s why they presented Istanbul as an international hub near Dubai – and it worked:
“This year we have more than 25 stands. Hackathon with a prize pool of US$50,000. […] It’s important to have the big banks and government officials with us in a declining market.”
The venue was packed with blockchain and cryptocurrency enthusiasts of all backgrounds. They socialized, hosted roundtables and workshops, scanned for Metaverse, or just chatted with Desi, SingularityNET’s AI conversational robot.
The Main Hall featured lots of AI, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and Web3-friendly fan tokens. However, the non-fungible tokens were noticeably absent. Last year there was a full day and exhibition dedicated to NFTs.
Korhaliller explained that as organizers we need to be flexible and adaptable to respond NFT trade has fallen by 99%. “The interest is obviously non-existent, so we will not host an NFT day this year.”
Hackathon on Islamic finance
The main stage was divided into several events, like last year, including lectures, workshops and the IstanHack Hackathon.
While the keynote speakers discussed the key elements of Islamic finance, a large group of young developers raced against the clock to create working solutions in line with the event’s mission – to promote sustainable development and ethical finance for those familiar with traditional Financing dissatisfied are banking.
Islamic Finance targets a market of approximately 1.9 billion people. Most of them are dissatisfied with traditional financial services because of interest rates. Tansel Kaya is a member of the IstanHack jury and the founder of Mindstone Blockchain Labs. He explained that “interest is forbidden in Islam.” He told AskFX the hackathon is more than just a chance to win the grand prize. “It was a great opportunity for young people who want to create something different from the usual DeFi yield products.”
Artificial intelligence takes center stage
AI was a hot topic both on and off stage as the participating Companies presented their views on how Web3 can work in unison with AI. Loic Claveau, Chief Marketing Officer at SingularityNET, said people can now own their data for the first time.
He said that AI is a data-intensive technology. “It requires a lot of data to work as well as ChatGPT.” It’s a big tech monopoly. […] “All the giants of the technology world run and do it.”
According to Claveua, AI developers working with smaller teams have two options: They can either work for Big Tech or sell their next big idea to Big Tech. “It’s a great way to advance professionally and get into very interesting projects.”
Crypto Adoption: Slowly But Surely
AskFX Turkey was also a media partner of the event. “Here in Istanbul, like the rest of the world, we are still feeling the effects of a prolonged bear market,” said Eray Dengiz. CEO of AskFX Turkey & Kriptomeda.
He stressed the importance of active participation of the Turkish banking system as major Turkish banks such as Garanti BBVA Akbank and Yapi Kredi participated in a CBDC panel.
Addy Crezee attended a crypto event in Turkey for the first time. She is the founder of NFT ticketing service Ozaru and former CEO of AskFX’s global event BlockShow. Crezee moderated an IBW panel on crypto finance.
He told AskFX that “finance is by far the most important issue in Turkey.” When you step off the plane, you’ll see advertisements from the various exchanges. “I was impressed.”
Crezee highlighted the strides the crypto ecosystem has made in terms of adoption, reaching more people and reaching a wider reach in less than 10 years.
“I attended crypto events in 2014 and 2015 that were mostly about bitcoin. There were less than 100 people. “Today, an event that attracts fewer than 1,000 people is considered small.”
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