Istanbul Blockchain Week 2025 marked the largest annual edition of the event, drawing thousands of global Web3 participants to Turkey’s economic hub.
Held on June 26-27 at the Hilton Istanbul Bomonti Hotel, the two-day event reinforced Istanbul’s growing influence in blockchain innovation.
From Tron’s Justin Sun to Pudgy Penguins – Highlights
This year’s event hosted high-level discussions on stablecoins, real-world assets (RWAs), AI agents, tokenized finance, and regulation.
Organized for the fourth time by EAK Digital, the conference reflected both its scale and ambition, featuring keynotes, workshops, and the launch of new formats.
Notable speakers included Mehmet Çamır, President of OKX TR; Justin Sun, CEO of Tron; John Linden, CEO of Mythical Games; and Marco Dal Lago, VP of Global Expansion at Tether.
John Linden stated, “The Turkish market is generally becoming a powerhouse in gaming. Really strong companies are emerging here. We have a new FIFA game, and the Turkish market is quite strong for that too. There are mobile gaming fans and a few football fans here. So, it’s a green market.”
Industry executives and policymakers shared insights on institutional growth and regulatory changes shaping the sector.
Specifically, Justin Sun focused on Tron’s stablecoin ecosystem, emphasizing compliance upgrades and real-world use cases across Turkey. Sun pointed to Turkey’s increasing importance as a testing ground for retail adoption and sovereign stablecoin applications.
Meanwhile, Mehmet Çamır addressed the regulatory landscape, stating that Turkey has a large retail crypto base of over 14 million users, making compliance and investor protection top priorities.
The BlockDown Festival returned with a new format, combining Web3 art and music. This year, in collaboration with Pudgy Penguins, it introduced AI-led performances, showcasing the blend of autonomous agents and live entertainment. Additionally, the event featured new additions like the RWA Builders Summit and DefaiCon Istanbul. These sections highlighted infrastructure advancements in tokenized assets and decentralized finance.
Christian Thompson from the Sui Foundation announced a developer bootcamp aiming to train 2,000-4,000 local developers within 12 to 18 months. This step underscores Turkey’s emergence as a talent hub for blockchain development.
Overall, the record attendance at Istanbul Blockchain Week followed a strong year for global crypto events. In June, at ETHCC in Brussels, Robinhood introduced tokenized US stocks and ETFs in Europe. The launch included 24/5 trading on Arbitrum and on-chain dividends. Also speaking at ETHCC, Vitalik Buterin warned about architectural risks in Web3, Layer 2 backdoors, and governance token auctions.
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