Exploring Turkey's Crypto Boom: An Interview with Istanbul Blockchain Week Founder, Erhan Korhaliller

Turkey has been battling soaring inflation and high interest rates for some time, long before these issues became global. The official inflation rate in Turkey recently stood at over 75%, which has led Turkish people to seek alternative assets to preserve and grow their wealth.

Turkey also has a very robust mobile gaming market; a recent report stated that 79% of adults in Turkey play games. This means people are accustomed to using digital tokens and in-game currencies, and I believe Turkey will play a pivotal role in the upcoming boom of Web3 gaming that we will witness in the next few years.

Turkey has a massive number of retail traders, which has led many major exchanges to build a strong Turkish presence, including Binance, Huobi, and FTX. In my discussions with these exchanges, I am consistently told that Turkey is in the top 2-3 markets for trading volume on their platforms. In addition to global exchanges, large domestic exchanges like BTCTürk and Paribu are also processing huge volumes.

Turkey has always been a huge market for mobile gaming, and there continues to be an extremely large gaming community that is ripe to be onboarded into Web3. We plan to facilitate this at Istanbul Blockchain Week with our W3E Championships, the world's first Web3 gaming championships.

Beyond my Turkish heritage, as the founder of EAK Digital, a Web3 creative agency since 2017, we have partnered with numerous events and worked with high-profile clients like Binance, XX Network, Theta Network, and Neo. As our agency grew, so did our network. In 2019, I decided to explore the Turkish Web3 events landscape and was disappointed by what I found.

There were no major events taking place in Turkey, and the events I could find featured questionable speakers and characters often associated with scams and dubious projects. Furthermore, the Turkish economy was struggling while crypto adoption in the country was exploding. This inspired me to launch Istanbul Blockchain Week, the premier Web3 event in the region. We wanted to invite real builders, educators, thought leaders, and top business people from both Turkey and internationally to create an event that Turkey can be truly proud of.

In Turkey, it is illegal to use cryptocurrency as a form of payment, but it is not illegal to trade cryptocurrencies. Aside from this, clear regulatory guidelines have not yet been established by the government. President Erdoğan has stated that the regulations regarding crypto assets are ready for parliament, though with no clear date for implementation. We are hopeful for regulations that create a framework for innovation and growth in the Turkish crypto asset space.

What might surprise some people is that President Erdoğan, after meeting with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, announced that TOGG, Turkey's domestic car brand, will collaborate with the StarkWare blockchain. He also stated earlier this year that Turkey should be one of the leading countries in the metaverse space.

The week kicks off with a 1-day NFT Day dedicated to all things NFT, Metaverse, and gaming. This will feature a highly curated lineup of leaders from the NFT space in Turkey and internationally. We then move into the main event of the week, IstanBlock, a two-day conference that will feature Turkish government speakers, major international companies, and, of course, heavyweight Web3 thought leaders.

Following the main conference, we are extremely excited to launch the W3E Championships, the world's first Web3 gaming tournament. We have a dedicated 600-seat Esports arena in Istanbul for the finals, which includes some of the top games in Web3. Gamers must advance through qualifying tournaments taking place in August and September before the finalists travel to Istanbul for one final epic showdown.

At this year's Istanbul Blockchain Week, we are focusing on a variety of sectors in the industry, spread across our different events. You can expect a full host of speakers from leaders in Web3 alongside mainstream Web2 brands that are breaking into Web3. It's been fascinating to watch brands like Tiffany's and Adidas enter the space, and we want to host events that facilitate such partnerships.

Additionally, at IstanBlock, attendees can hear from leading figures in Web3 and legendary individuals like David Chaum, a renowned cryptographer and pioneer. We will also have a strong presence in NFTs, Gaming, and the Metaverse at NFT Day and the Web3 Esports Championships, with speakers who have worked on major AAA+ games to bridge the conversation.

Istanbul Blockchain Week represents the best opportunity for the global community to connect with the vibrant Turkish crypto community and build relationships with traders, influencers, thought leaders, government officials, and large multinational firms looking for partners to enter Web3.

At Istanbul Blockchain Week, we have a range of events catering to many different profiles of attendees. Whether you are an NFT enthusiast, a major business or bank pivoting to Web3, or an avid gamer, there is something for you.

Istanbul is an iconic historic city, and the excitement for Web3 is tangible; you only need to spend a short time here to see how massive it is. Everywhere you look, there is advertising for crypto, from promotions in the airport and on local trams and buses to physical exchange shops outside the famous Grand Bazaar.

The Turkish people are some of the most passionate and excited about Web3 and cryptocurrency, and the event is a major opportunity for projects that want to reach a new, receptive audience or engage with their existing Turkish community.