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Islamic finance and Web3 take stage at Istanbul Blockchain Week

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Being one flight away from both Dubai and London, Istanbul is the “financial capital” of Turkey and a popular destination for events and organizations. Its convenient location also helps organizers customize their events to align with the specific needs of Eastern or Western cultures — which felt like the case at Istanbul Blockchain Week 2023.

IBW 2023 saw thousands of local and international enthusiasts join the conversation on crypto, blockchain and Web3 on Aug. 22 and 23 at the Hilton Istanbul Bomonti. Tailored to reflect the various discussions across the Web3 ecosystem, the event’s agenda was filled with keynotes about artificial intelligence (AI), regulation, Web3 gaming and blockchain use cases from the real world.

Aside from the hot topics to capture the global audience, IBW 2023 also featured region-specific talks, such as on Islamic finance and a Shariah-compliant Web3 economy. The explosive growth of crypto and Web3 in the United Arab Emirates, especially in Dubai, combined with the UAE’s interest in the Turkish market created a convenient time frame for organizer EAK Digital to hold this year’s event, just nine months after IBW 2022.

Istanbul Blockchain Week 2023 welcomed a large number of crypto, blockchain and Web3 enthusiasts.

Having the event in August in Istanbul was a strategic decision, according to Erhan Korhaliller, founder and CEO of EAK Digital. He explained that it’s far too hot to have any events in summer in Dubai, so they presented Istanbul as a neighboring international hub for major players from the UAE — and their tactic paid off:

“We have over 25 booths this year. A hackathon with a $50,000 prize. […] Having the government representatives and big banks with us here during a bear market is very important.”

Aside from the agenda for the main stage, the event hall was packed with blockchain and crypto enthusiasts from various backgrounds networking, holding roundtable discussions and workshops, getting themselves scanned for the metaverse, or simply chatting and taking selfies with Desi, the conversational AI robot from SingularityNET and Yaya Labs.

Magazine: Recursive inscriptions: Bitcoin ‘supercomputer’ and BTC DeFi coming soon

While AI, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and Web3-friendly fan tokens featured prominently in the main hall, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) were notably missing. Last year, there was a whole day and an exhibition dedicated to NFTs.

“As organizers, we should be flexible and adaptive to what the market is telling us,” explained Korhaliller. “NFT trading is like 99% down. The interest clearly is not here, and therefore, we’re not doing an NFT Day this year.”

Islamic finance hackathon

Similar to last year, the main stage was divided into several events to hold speeches, workshops and the IstanHack hackathon simultaneously.

As keynote speakers presented their arguments around crucial elements of Islamic finance, a crowded cast of young developers coded against time to create working solutions that aligned with the overall mission of the event — promoting ethical finance and sustainable development for people dissatisfied with traditional banking.

IstanHack focused on addressing the needs of Islamic finance.

Islamic finance has a target market of 1.9 billion people, most of whom are unsatisfied with traditional finance services due to the involvement of interest. “Interest is forbidden in Islam,” explained Tansel Kaya, an IstanHack juror and founder of Mindstone Blockchain Labs. He told Cointelegraph that more than just the big prize, “the hackathon served as an eye-opener for the young talent looking to develop something beyond your run-of-the-mill DeFi yield products.”

AI takes the stage

AI was a hot topic, both on and off stage, during Istanbul Blockchain Week, with participating companies demonstrating their take on how Web3 and AI can be in sync. During his speech titled “The Future of Decentralised Generative AI on Blockchain,” SingularityNET chief marketing officer Loic Claveau noted that for the first time in history, people have the ability to own their data.

“AI is very data-intensive,” he said, adding, “It needs to run a ton of data to be able to work as you use something like ChatGPT. It is a Big Tech monopoly. […] All the big behemoths of the tech world, they run and they do it.”

Artificial intelligence was one of the most popular topics during IBW 2023.

According to Claveua, AI developers who work with a relatively smaller team have two options at this point: Working for Big Tech or selling their next big ideas to Big Tech. “That’s the way to move forward in your career and get into the very interesting projects.”

Crypto adoption: Slowly but surely

Cointelegraph Turkey was one of the media partners of the event as well. “Here in Istanbul, we are still experiencing the impact of a prolonged bear market, just like the rest of the world,” commented Eray Dengiz, CEO of Cointelegraph Turkey and Kriptomeda.

He underscored the importance of the active participation from the Turkish banking ecosystem, with major Turkish banks such as Garanti BBVA, Akbank and Yapi Kredi attending a panel for CBDCs.

A first-timer to a crypto event held in Turkey was Addy Crezee, founder of NFT ticketing platform Ozaru and the former CEO of Cointelegraph’s own global event, BlockShow. Crezee moderated a panel about crypto finance at IBW 2023.

Recent: Bitcoin gains traction in West Africa with educational drive

“Obviously, finance is the biggest topic here in Turkey,” he told Cointelegraph. “When you come out of the plane, you see all the ads from all the different exchanges. I was impressed.”

Highlighting the overall progress the crypto ecosystem has achieved in terms of adoption and reaching more people in less than a decade, Crezee summarized:

“I remember attending crypto events, mainly about Bitcoin, in 2014 or 2015. There were less than a hundred people. Today, when an event attracts less than a thousand people, it’s considered pretty small.”

Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.

Cryptocurrency

Ripple v. SEC Lawsuit Updates, Cardano (ADA) Price Predictions, and More: Bits Recap Feb 7

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TL;DR

  • The legal battle between Ripple and the SEC continues, but recent changes in the regulator’s leadership may favor the company.
  • Analysts predict a parabolic rally for Cardano (ADA), with strong fundamentals and rising adoption signaling a possible breakout despite recent price declines.
  • Whales accumulated 750 million DOGE during the dip, and analysts see $0.17 as a potential bottom before a major price surge.

More Changes at the SEC

Over the past few years, Ripple secured some vital partial court wins that seemingly positioned the regulator as the underdog in the legal tussle. Most recently, the SEC enforced some amendments to its leadership, which could also be interpreted as good news for the company.

As CryptoPotato reported, the agency moved Jorge Tenreiro to its computer systems management department. The law expert joined the agency 11 years ago and signed the SEC’s notice of appeal in its case against Ripple.

The plea was submitted in October last year, challenging Judge Torres’ 2023 decision. At that time, she ruled that Ripple’s sales of XRP to retail investors through centralized exchanges did not violate securities regulations.

Earlier this year, the SEC’s former Chairman, Gary Gensler, stepped down. The agency had a quite hostile approach towards the cryptocurrency industry during his tenure, and somewhat expectedly, the XRP community cheered his resignation.

His role was succeeded by Mark Uyeda, who is pro-crypto and even criticized the SEC’s previous leadership for launching a war on the sector. 

ADA Bull Run in the Cards?

Cardano’s native token suffered the consequences of the market decline at the start of the business week and is currently deep in the red on a 7-day scale, trading at approximately $0.71 (per CoinGecko’s data).

ADA Price
ADA Price, Source: CoinGecko

However, many industry participants believe a fresh resurgence could be just around the corner. Such is the case with Ali Martinez, who observed ADA’s performance in the past years and assumed that it might be “at the very beginning of a monster parabolic rally.”

The X user Lucky was also bullish, telling his over 2 million followers on the social media platform that “strong fundamentals and rising adoption make Cardano a solid bet before the next big move.”

DOGE Price Predictions

Last but not least, we will touch upon the OG meme coin – Dogecoin (DOGE). Similar to ADA, it has also sank by double digits in the past week, but some factors signal a potential reversal.

DOGE Price
DOGE Price, Source: CoinGecko

Martinez recently disclosed that whales accumulated 750 million tokens during the correction, describing the move as “a strong sign of confidence in the market.”

For their part, the X users AMCrypto and KALEO outlined predictions for the near future. The former envisioned a potential decline to as low as $0.17 before a bull run to a new all-time high.

KALEO claimed that the current price level of $0.25 is “a solid entry and practically free compared to where we’ll see it a few months from now.” 

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Berachain Community Members Show Mix Reactions Following BERA Airdrop

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The Berachain team has finally released BERA airdrops to community members following the successful launch of the proof-of-liquidity layer-1 network.

However, the airdrops have received mixed reactions from community members, with users complaining that the allocation to certain groups was not fair.

BERA Airdrop Allocations

According to the Berachain tokenomics and airdrop overview, market participants eligible for the airdrops include testnet users, community members who deposited capital in the Boyco program, and holders of Berachain ecosystem non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Additionally, Binance Coin (BNB) holders, strategic partners, successful recipients of the Request for Broposal programs, holders of the Bong Bears NFTs who bridge their collectibles to Berachain, and users who constructively engaged with Berachain on X and Discord are eligible.

The Berachain Foundation, a non-profit organization piloting the affairs of the layer-1 network, allocated 1.65% BERA to testnet users, 2.35% BERA to Request for Broposal recipients, 2% to Boyco depositors, and 0.25% to X and Discord commentators. Holders of Berachain ecosystem NFTs received 0.25% of the amount, while the Berachain Foundation allocated 6.9% BERA to Bong Bears NFT holders. Strategic partners have been given 0.4% BERA, while BNB holders are to receive 2% BERA.

Notably, the airdrop makes up 15.75% of Berachain’s 500 million total supply. Although 107.48 million tokens are currently in circulation, the remaining will be released according to a linear vesting schedule over the next three years.

Mixed Reaction From Community

Berachain community members on X are complaining that the airdrop allocations are not fair. Some insist it is not right for testnet users, who have engaged with the network for years, to receive way fewer tokens than Bong Bears NFT holders. Some users revealed that they received substantial allocations, while others said they got none despite consistently interacting with the protocol over time.

Although pseudonymous Berachain co-founder Smokey the Bera explained that it is nearly impossible to target people perfectly during airdrops, community members are still voicing their grievances in the comment section. The pseudonymous crypto trader Jarzombek asserted that Smokey and the Berachain team members “rugged the most loyal community” by allocating 0.25% to holders of ecosystem NFTs.

Amid this chaos, the price of BERA has corrected a bit after rallying 1,346% to $14.46 after launch. Data from CoinMarketCap shows the token changing hands at $7.36 at the time of writing.

Meanwhile, the Berachain ecosystem has three main tokens: BERA, BGT, and HONEY. BERA is the native gas and staking token of the network, BGT is for governance and economic incentives, while HONEY is the chain’s native stablecoin.

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3 Reasons That Ripple (XRP) Is Preparing for a Major Rally

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TL;DR

  • Spot XRP ETF filings from well-known financial players could boost institutional and retail investment in the asset if approved.
  • Whales accumulated millions of tokens during the dip, and the RSI briefly dropped below 30, suggesting a potential price rebound.

The Potential Catalysts

Ripple’s XRP did not start the business week on the right foot, briefly tanking below $2 during the market correction witnessed on February 3. In the following days, the bulls reclaimed some lost ground, but the price remains deep in the red on a weekly scale, currently trading at around $2.37 (per CoinGecko’s data).

XRP Price
XRP Price, Source: CoinGecko

Despite the bearish environment, some essential factors hint that a move to the upside could be incoming. On February 6, Cboe BZX Exchange lodged 19b-4 filings on behalf of Canary Capital, WisdomTree, 21Shares, and Bitwise. The well-known asset managers seek to list the first spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the USA.

The filings represent a formal request submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The agency must approve or reject the application, often within 240 days.

A potential green light would grant American investors additional options to gain exposure to Ripple’s native token, which could create upward pressure on its price. 

The whales’ activity is another factor worth observing. The popular X user Ali Martinez revealed that large investors had accumulated 520 million XRP (worth over $1.2 billion at current rates) during the latest dip. 

Such actions reduce the circulating supply of the asset, possibly setting the stage for a rally (should demand keep its level or rise).

Last but not least, we will focus on XRP’s Relative Strength Index (RSI), which measures the speed and change of price movements. The technical analysis tool varies from 0 to 100, with readings below 30 indicating oversold conditions and a potential for a bounce. Earlier this week, the ratio plunged below the bullish mark, currently set at around 35. 

Bonus: Garlinghouse and Trump

The president of the USA, Donald Trump, started his second term at the White House with a bang, signing numerous executive orders and doubling down on his focus on the cryptocurrency industry. He reportedly plans to establish a crypto advisory council that may be comprised of some well-known names. 

One of the people who could find a place there is Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse. The advisors’ main role will be to design a comprehensive regulatory framework for the sector and work closely with Trump and David Sacks (whom the president tapped to serve as cryptocurrency and AI “czar”). 

Garlinghouse’s possible connection with the White House could have a significant impact on Ripple’s native token. He might advocate for clearer regulations surrounding the asset, which has faced scrutiny from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for years.

Ripple’s CEO and the American president have shown a close connection to each other, having a dinner meeting at the Mar-a-Lago estate earlier this year.

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