AAX proudly sponsors Blockchain Economy Istanbul Summit 2022

Institutional cryptocurrency exchange AAX joins Eurasia’s largest blockchain event of the year as a Featured Sponsor. The Blockchain Economy Istanbul Summit 2022 is one of the elite gatherings of the global crypto and blockchain ecosystem.

AAX marked its sponsorship of the influential event – which is expected to see over 3,000 attendees from over 55 countries – with a prominent presence at Istanbul Airport. This strategic location has made AAX’s brand a show-stopper and drew attention from the thousands of people who entered the country over the last couple of days. 

AAX’s booth was staffed by their team of experts who were available throughout the summit to showcase the company’s products and services.  They also had productive talks with potential clients and partners about a variety of issues and gave them a demo of its solutions.

Turks flock to cryptocurrencies

The Blockchain Economy Istanbul Summit is Eurasia’s largest ever blockchain event bringing together the world’s top crypto companies and entrepreneurs. 

On the B2B side, the exclusive event line-up is filled with distinguished speakers, diverse panel discussions, and hands-on workshops designed to boost crypto investment performance and drive greater end-to-end workflow efficiencies.

Cryptocurrency ownership has been already soaring in Turkey as high inflation prompts locals to seek ways to preserve the value of their savings. A recent study by Forrester commissioned by AAX found that approximately 13.6 million people – roughly 16% of Turkey’s population –– own Bitcoin, which makes Istanbul a fitting host for such high-profile blockchain events.

Among the top crypto leaders and speakers who will join the global conversation will be Alex Bornyakov, the Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the entrepreneur Carl Runefelt, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor and many more. Also joining the speaker’s list are a number of representatives from AAX, including its VP of global marketing aka Head of Research & Strategy, Ben Caselin, Head of Impact Lab Timothy Wong, and Country Director for Turkey Anadolu Aydınlı.

“Our presence at the Istanbul summit also marks our expansion into Turkiye as one of our target markets. In Turkiye there is an understanding of Bitcoin and digital assets beyond trading and investing alone. Digital assets including stablecoins are a necessity here and AAX is ready to serve this market beyond the confines of its urban centers to bring the benefits of digital assets to everyone,” said Ben Caselin, VP of global marketing and Head of Research & Strategy at AAX.

AAX has a growing community presence in Turkey

The surge in Turks’ interest in cryptocurrency — alongside the shutdown of shady exchanges that left thousands of their customers unable to access their funds — has alarmed regulated platforms like AAX to expand their business into the country.

To be part of the local crypto scene, AAX has appointed Anadolu Aydınlı to the role of its Country Director in. As a Turkish-American lawyer with a LLM in Cryptocurrency Arbitration, he previously held roles in other major crypto exchanges like Binance and Bybit. Also, he is a board and advisory member of multiple fintech projects, as well as a columnist for Karar.  

“Everyone has the goal of being as established as they can be in a crucial market like Turkey, but we are taking a step further by expressly focusing on local partnerships, sustainability, and philanthropy. We have one of the most crypto-native teams in Turkey right now, with deep exchange and product knowledge to help hyper-accelerate our growth in this market we call home. We are ready to not only continue the journey of digital asset adoption in Turkey but help our users reach their maximum potential via our product,” said Anadolu Aydınlı, Country Director of Turkey at AAX.

Just prior to the summit, AAX hosted a successful meetup event in Istanbul that saw the local crypto community come together for a panel discussion involving speakers such as Eren Ozkan, Principal & Vice President at Mastercard, Sima Baktas, Founder at CryptoFemale Turkey and Max Lurya, CEO at EnoughTea – with AAX’s Caselin moderating the discussion.

The participation marks a fresh iteration of AAX’s efforts to measure grassroots cryptocurrency adoption around the globe and offer unique insights after a year of increased attention for the industry.

AAX said last month it was expanding hiring right now, a sharp contrast to a slew of job cuts and a hiring freeze at multiple companies operating in the crypto space.

The prominent platform has “hundreds of roles” available across many functions as it doubles staff size this year to support its global expansion plans. AAX will open additional offices to support new markets and add staff to expand expertise and product lines.

The good news comes amid a downturn in crypto markets that triggered a wave of high-profile firings, layoffs, and staff reductions at leading players. On top of those pieces of news was Coinbase, which cut about 1,100 jobs or 18% of its workforce and Gemini which let 10% of its staff go.