Positivity blazing through a bear market: Blockchain Economy Istanbul 2022

cointelegraph.com:

Held at Hilton Bomonti, a fancy hotel next to a renovated and repurposed beer factory in Istanbul, the fourth iteration of the Blockchain Economy Summit 2022 (BE2022) proved to be a significant step-up compared to its pre-pandemic predecessors.

The previous summit, BE2020, was held at the WOW Convention Center two years back. In addition to being situated in a harder-to-reach part of Istanbul, the summit coincided with the COVID-19 outbreak, further impacting the overall attendance. Since the sole purpose of that venue was organizing large-scale events, the crypto community from two years prior was just not big enough to fill the space. As a direct result of the aforementioned factors, the BE2020 felt like a two-day trip to a ghost town.

Pre-show pictures: Great music and performances at @BEconomy_HQ. Also, nice shirt @ErhanKahraman; We wonder where you got it from . (Cough, https://t.co/OmCXzstsi5 )#BEinstanbul2022 pic.twitter.com/hZABaJhfso

Attendees of Blockchain Economy Istanbul 2022 described the summit as dense, vivid and full of energy, drawing a stark contrast to the BE2020 in almost every aspect. It was also the first international crypto and blockchain event held in the region ever since Turkey revoked travel ban restrictions. As a result, the crypto community members — from Western and Eastern countries — could join in on the celebration.

The event roster had a good balance between the local companies and global crypto players. While big shots like Binance, Huobi or FTX were visibly absent from the event, logos of major companies like KuCoin, Gate.io, Bitget, Bitmex and Uphold were filling the main hall. Despite its recent troubles, Gari Network donned the main sponsor badge for the whole event.

For two days, the