From inviting crypto-specific audiences to spreading its wings to include a wider audience, the famous Dubai Crypto Thursdays restarted its efforts to bring the community together on February 23 at Richman house (Opus Tower). The revamped event attracted crypto executives and startups from the blockchain industry, but also people from all walks of life, including VCs and investors.
The event saw new life breathed into it by TONBanking, a TON Network based banking system that allows crypto-to-fiat transfers through the messaging app Telegram. Its Founder, Marat Minkin was the man behind the vision of turning the event into its current form.
Three-Tier Event for Better Outreach
The Dubai Crypto Venture Capital (DCVC) was split into three sub-events, each catering to a specific aspect of the gathering.
The first sub-event was the Main Stage, where crypto startups lined up to present their ideas in front of a star-studded panel of experts and investors. The Main Stage consisted of three blocks, with 4 startups within each block, pitching their market-shaking ideas. The startups ranged from social projects to gaming to banking.
The Main Stage VC panelists included Marat Minkin (Founder, TONBanking), his companion and TONBanking Co-Founder Wasim Al Imam, OKX exchange CEO Jay Hao, Diana Dalo of Sun Holdings Capital, Guy Yanpolskiy from UAE Business Concierge and other notable personalities.
Out of the dozen crypto startups present in the Main Stage, Swipe2Trade, a trading ecosystem, came out as the winner with VCs committing to back it up.
C-Level was a collection of C-suite executives, where all the VC panelists were joined by prominent personalities like Vazgen Yeghiazar from RHI Club and team members from the premier marketing firm Jeta (CEO Andrey Trubetskoy and Strategic Mascot Tim Gareev).
The C-Level members were asked for their opinions and views on cryptos, the startup culture, and why funding matters. The interviews were broadcasted live to all participants of the event.
Finally, the Art Zone saw the presentation of the NFT project Charity Kiss. The project consists of works by several artists who reimagined the famous work The Kiss by Gustav Klimt. The project’s goal is to raise awareness about the rare disease PLWRD and the struggle of people who have it.
Marat Minkin, The Visionary Behind Dubai Crypto Venture Capital
The event’s new direction came from Marat Minkin, who founded TONBanking. He reimagined the event in a different direction, but with the same goal of connecting great minds. As per him,
“I’m so proud that we managed to host such an event as DCVC. When you conduct updates, you always worry whether your audience is satisfied with the result. We did everything to make DCVC different from our previous Crypto Thursdays and any other crypto events. We focused on selectivity, added a bit of art, and broadened the audience — and here’s the result. Besides, we raised the event status with the top executives in the C-level zone. In my opinion, the reboot was an absolute success”
Marat Minkin is a respected and well-known personality from the crypto sphere. Not only has he founded TONBanking, a new banking system that allows users on and off ramping for crypto and fiat through Telegram, but he also leads the TONCOIN community in Dubai, is the Co-Founder of IQ Options, a derivative exchange, and even sits on the advisory board of BantGo (a waste recycling crypto platform).
His reimagined event provides a launchpad for startups who can connect with VCs and get funding that benefits not only both parties but create a strong community that can drive blockchain and crypto adoption up.
