The FTX collapse is not enough to break the spirit of the crypto community: IBW 2022

by · November 21, 2022

Istanbul Blockchain Week opened its doors on November 14 to bring the crypto and blockchain ecosystem together in Istanbul, Turkey. Cointelegraph attended the event with a Cointelegraph Turkey stand and an Istanbul-based editor to experience the impact of the FTX collapse firsthand – the result was unexpected.

As an international hub housing more than 15 million people, Istanbul was rocked by a bomb attack in Taksim, the city center, on the evening of November 13. Nevertheless, the following day, Istanbul Blockchain Week (IBW) opened its doors to more than 2,000 international participants and over 100 speakers after consulting with local security authorities.

On top of a year-long bear market and the FTX collapse, IBW 2022 attendees also had to deal with the emotional stress of what happened last night. Both events were ever-present themes on the main stage and in the event hall.

Erhan Korhaliller, the organizer of the event and the founder of EAK Digital, mentioned both themes during his opening speech. With the exception of the people who barely managed to land in Istanbul hours before their stage time, the majority of the speakers started by offering their condolences to the victims of the terror attack.

However, Istanbul Blockchain Week 2022 managed to strike a balance to keep a respectful tone to the concerns of İstanbulites while maintaining the entertainment aspect of the show. Nothing stood out as too flashy, but the atmosphere was always lively and colorful. For the next four days, key names from the crypto industry took the stage one after the other in front of a fully focused and attentive audience.

Cointelegraph Turkey had a splash at IBW 2022 thanks to a large booth overseen by the Kriptomeda team.

IBW 2022 used the event area of ​​the Hilton Bomonti hotel quite cleverly to provide break zones during crowded networking activities. The guests were presented with coffee, tea and water to refresh themselves during heated conversations.

The main stage, which was too big for a 2,000-person event, was divided into three parts, lit only by the light of kiosks presenting cool, non-fungible tokens (NFTs); The NFT Gallery was next to the stage. The other side of the gallery was reserved for IstanHack, where developers from neighboring countries competed to build a Web3 project.

The event agenda left no corner of the extended crypto-overseas unchecked: market makers, exchanges, decentralized finance (DeFi) providers, blockchain games and metaverse big guns filled the event area and main stage to provide a comprehensive picture of what’s happening in the crypto world.

Related: Turkey’s financial authority is investigating FTX’s collapse

One thing that stood out throughout the show was the positivity and “keep building” philosophy. It would not take a journalist to understand that the ecosystem really believes in the building of the bear market.

During the event, Cointelegraph saw ambitious projects with young and talented teams joining the competition right after the biggest collapse in crypto history, global exchanges using the local aspect of the event to announce their expansion into the Turkish market, and industry veterans sharing wisdom and strategy . to endure the negativity of the mainstream media.

Cointelegraph’s ground team conducted several video interviews with speakers at the Cointelegraph Turkey booth, most of which were published on Cointelegraph Turkey YouTube channel. Between a panel moderation and lots of booth surfing, Cointelegraph editor Erhan Kahraman also managed to sit down with renowned cryptographer and Elixxir CEO David Chaum as well as blockchain security expert HashEx CEO Dmitry Mishunin. Both interviews will be published in Cointelegraph.

The first announcement of IBW 2022 dates back to early 2022, so it’s safe to assume that the details and agenda had to be marginally updated due to the recent meltdown. However, the main message was unmistakable: Crypto is here to stay and the crypto revolution is bigger than FTX.