https://medium.com/coinmonks/behind-the-scenes-of-running-one-of-the-largest-global-hackathons-part-1-60ead685719f?source=rss----721b17443fd5---4

The largest Startup Weekend Global is happening this weekend.

This is a 5-part series on the behind-the-scenes of Startup Weekend Global and what it takes to run a hackathon that has morphed into a global entrepreneurship juggernaut.

Part 1: Community

Startup Weekend started in a basement, with friends hacking out projects over a weekend.

It was never meant to be more than a couple of like-minded folks trying to hack out something to fix their pain point.

Now, after more than a decade, it has grown into a powerful global movement.

Entrepreneurs, hackers, hustlers, coders, builders, designers, makers, movers and shakers.

From Croatia to Tasmania.

From New York to Singapore.

From London to Nigeria.

More than half a million souls have been a part of SW.

More than 7,000 SW have been done worldwide.

In more than 1,800 cities.

Thousands of ideas have been shared.

Hundreds of startups have been born.

Even a few unicorns have come out of SW.

The SW community is stronger than ever before.

And the community is what feeds us, as we feed it too.

Nobody is more important than the community.

Together, we are unstoppable, undeniable and unrelenting.

If you ever wanted to be part of something bigger than yourself, your city or your world.

Join the fun at Startup Weekend Global.

Meet some friends from places you will never ever visit.

Enjoy the comraderies from cultures and beliefs you never knew exists.

We have nearly 1,600 participants from 117+ countries and counting!

Places like Angola, Lyon, Niger, Budapest and Cote D’Azur!

Cities that I can’t even pronounce.

Don’t just join for the prizes and the win.

Come expose yourself to the brilliant world of entrepreneurship and startups.

Startups are a beautiful thing.

They exist to solve problems.

They exist to make our lives better.

The community is ever-growing and ever evolving.

Volunteers are part of the community too.

I want to personally thank them for the hard work and dedication for the months of planning and execution.

It takes a village to build a global event of such scale and success.

The passion, love, determination, grit, resolve, fortitude and persistence exhibited by the volunteers, participants, sponsors, partners, organizers and everyone else is what makes the community strong.

Thank you all for being a part of this global movement.

Would you like to have the chance for front-row tickets to Startup Weekend Global?

Would you like to be able to observe the final pitching sessions?

Want to watch as the final teams battle it out and pit against the distinguished judges.

We got you.

Redeem your observer tickets to get in on the action!

P.S. we are only releasing a small number as there is a limit to the number of pax in the SW metaverse, so get it quick!

—

Join us at Startup Weekend Global!

This will be the largest Startup Weekend focusing on Web3 and more!

If you want to participate and stand a chance to win up to $100k of prizes, join us now!

If you want to watch the finals on 4 March at 10pm (SGT), get your tickets here.

—

Have you heard of Startup Weekend Global?

—

#startups #business #startupx #growth #success #socialmedia #culture #entrepreneurship #strategy #eth #btc #crypto #polygon #partnerships #startupweekend #NFT #swglobal #unicorns #mentors #founders #judges

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Behind-the-scenes of running one of the largest Global Hackathons [Part 1] was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

https://medium.com/coinmonks/stop-overlooking-malaysia-as-a-tech-startup-hub-9fda01ca6410?source=rss----721b17443fd5---4

When we speak about tech startups in Asia, Malaysia rarely comes up.

Rightly so.

There are so many factors that contribute to that reality.

But no ecosystem is perfect.

Not even the mighty Silicon Valley or Singapore’s Blk71.

The Malaysian startup ecosystem is budding but rich in flavor.

The founders are hungrier and more willing to learn compared to the West.

The talents are getting more savvy, experienced and thoughtful.

There is a huge gap in the Malaysian early stage ecosystem.

There are comparatively fewer entrepreneurs who are willing to found companies.

There are fewer quality startups brewing than before.

This is a problem.

But it also presents a unique opportunity.

A gap to fill is a good thing.

We know what we need to do.

To encourage more founders to solve bigger problems, to go deeper into tech niches and start exploring more creative ways of doing things.

We need to stimulate more early-stage growth and present more opportunities for founders to start.

The growth potential is huge and we intended to bring it to life.

A resurgence is needed.

What we need to do is understand why, strategize wisely and execute effectively.

That is why StartupX is partnering with Petronas and launching the PETRONAS FutureTech Accelerator Programme — “FutureTech 3.0”.

We are looking for innovative, forward-thinking and interesting startups that dare to break the mould.

As a company, StartupX is committed to discovering and nurturing technology entrepreneurs, scaling them up to global standards, and building and influencing the tech-driven startup ecosystem.

In this edition, we are proud to welcome a robust line-up of Corporate Partners and Ecosystem Partners who will work with us to unlock synergies from cross-industries expertise and maximize the value impact of the programme to the startups.

It will be a 12 to 16 week hybrid accelerator.

We are on the lookout for forward-thinking innovation in the areas of Sustainability/Decarbonization, Future of Energy & Mobility, Future of Industry & Works, Future of Chemical & Materials, and Frontier Technology.

Our programme aims to empower budding entrepreneurs to take their ideas to the next level and make a significant impact on the tech startup ecosystem.

By providing the necessary tools and resources, we hope to build a strong and sustainable tech ecosystem that will drive innovation and growth in the region.

Through the PETRONAS FutureTech Accelerator Programme, we seek to bridge the gap in the Malaysian early-stage ecosystem and encourage more founders to solve bigger problems, explore tech niches, and start exploring more creative ways of doing things.

We believe that a gap to fill can be a good thing, and we are excited to help spur entrepreneurs to fill that market gap and become successful.

We are proud to have a strong line-up of partners joining us on the journey.

Corporate Partners:

• Gentari Sdn. Bhd.
• Tenaga Nasional Berhad
• DRB-HICOM Berhad
• Sembcorp Industries Ltd
• Hyundai Motor Company
• Vitol
• Khazanah Nasional Berhad

Ecosystem Partners:

• Cradle
• Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology & Innovation (MRANTI)
• Multimedia Development Corporation (MDEC)
• Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT)
• Microsoft
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• SG Innovate
• Leave a Nest Group
• National Technology & Innovation Sandbox (NTIS)
• MyStartup
• Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

We invite all tech startups in the Asia Pacific region to apply for the PETRONAS FutureTech Accelerator Programme — “FutureTech 3.0”.

Applications are open until March 31, 2023.

Come join us on this exciting journey and let us work together to shape the future of tech in Malaysia and the region.

Huge thanks to our ecosystem partners and friends for joining us along the journey.

Find out more here: https://petronasft.thestartupx.com/

–

Is the Malaysian startup ecosystem growing?

–

#PETRONAS #PassionateAboutProgress #PETRONASFutureTech #startups #business #startupx #growth #success #socialmedia #culture #entrepreneurship #strategy #futuretech #gap #earlystage #petronas #petroleum #malaysia #asean #twintowers #klcc

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Stop overlooking Malaysia as a tech startup hub. was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

https://medium.com/coinmonks/crypto-helps-crisis-management-more-than-we-think-baa77a4cc6e5?source=rss----721b17443fd5---4

Crypto has no real use cases.

Really?

Crypto for charity.

That is a cool use case.

“The crypto community has raised and pledged more than $11 million — less than 48 hours after a pair of strong earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria, leaving more than 9,400 dead and many more injured.”

I am certain the amount raised is a lot more than what we know.

This is indeed every bit as horrifying as it sounds.

Mother nature is devastatingly powerful and equally fair (or unfair) to everything and everyone.

If we were there too, it hits you, me and everyone else just as hard.

Sometimes, we humans just have no say.

Thankfully, it is 2023 and we have wonderful things like cryptocurrency and social media.

Social media and algorithms proliferates the news of the natural disaster to millions.

People who are interested to help, can donate speedily via cryptocurrencies in just a few clicks.

We saw the power of crypto took over during the Ukraine war.

Banks, institutions, ATM and cash were hard to come by and practically useless in war zone.

Crypto is borderless, ultra-fast, trackable and very transparent.

Anyone can donate from anywhere at anytime, if they wanted.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated nearly $227K or 149 ETH.

The cost is minimal if compared to the traditional way.

For instance, donating via bank involves hefty fees for cross-border transactions which will add up to a chunk of the donation given.

But with crypto donations, it is a mere fraction of the original amount and the funds are transferred almost immediately.

This makes donations easier and quicker, resulting in more donations being made.

This is also a great way to make donations anonymous since the donor’s name and identity are not disclosed.

Which is also an double-edged sword, to be fair.

There are idiots out there scamming people with fake sites and abusing the crisis for their own gains.

Shame on them.

We do need to talk about transparency here.

Yes, it is on the blockchain.

Yes, we can track the transactions.

But to what end?

Are we all blockchain experts who are familiar with how to track and read the forensics data properly?

Are we able to ascertain that the crypto raised for the charity are off-ramped and used to buy supplies?

Are we sure that the supplies do reach the intended parties?

The adage in web3 is “don’t trust, verify”.

So indeed, how do we confirm or verify all that?

We have to figure out ways to make the donations transparent, traceable and verifiable so that we can ensure that the funds are going where they should be — to those who need it.

This is a challenge that has yet to be solved but it is definitely one worth solving.

The implications of transparency and trust in distributed ledger technology (DLT) can be huge and the need to build reliable systems that are ethical, secure and in compliance with regulations is more important than ever.

It is indeed very difficult and there are challenges.

It is hard to differentiate which DAO or charity is the legitimate one.

Users are bombarded and overwhelmed.

And yes, even after raising crypto, there is still much to do.

They have to off-ramp it into fiat quickly to purchase medical supplies and food.

And then figure out how to get these to the victims speedily.

It is a nightmarish logistical process.

But we gotta try.

We must continue our search for solutions to this problem, so that we can all make sure our donations reach their intended recipients without any question of trust or doubt.

All I know is that if the shoe fits, wear it.

For now, there is a humanitarian crisis in Turkey and Syria.

More than 41,000 (last I checked) lives have been lost.

Crypto or fiat, whatever it takes to help these people, we have to try.

–

Is crypto a good way to do charity?

–

#startups #business #startupx #growth #success #socialmedia #culture #entrepreneurship #strategy #eth #btc #crypto #crisis #earthquake #syria #turkey #naturaldisaster #mothernature #charity #cryptocharity

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Crypto helps crisis management more than we think. was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

https://medium.com/coinmonks/crypto-seems-to-be-a-simple-game-of-dominoes-and-everything-is-crashing-down-now-679551c8aa1d?source=rss----721b17443fd5---4

Ever played with dominoes?

No, not the gambling game in the casino.

I’m talking about the simple game where you just line up small chips and watch them all fall down one after the other, with a flick of a finger.

The best part of it is that you can make it as simple or as elaborate as you want.

And when you are done stacking them neatly and patiently, all you need is one tiny flick to trigger the chain reaction.

Go youtube it.

There are some really fascinatingly complex ones that will keep you occupied for hours.

Anyways.

Cryptoland is like a bunch of dominoes stacked haphazardly one on top of the other.

Similarly, all it takes is one to fall, and the rest will inevitably crumble right after.

Don’t you feel that is how everything in crypto seems to be?

Contagion.

Collapse.

Waterfall.

Those are terms you use when one thing explodes based largely on the explosion or implosion on something else.

Lets’ see shall we?

Luna/Terra collapsed, BTC prices plunged, ETH went down, dragging down nearly ALL cryptocurrencies, 3AC went under too, followed by Voyager, BlockFi, Celsius, FTX and now Genesis.

“Genesis went from being one of the biggest crypto lenders to losing big when hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) went under. It then lost even more moolah in a liquidity crunch when FTX imploded, was forced to pause withdrawals in November, and now it’s filed for Chapter 11.”

Wait, I thought the whole point of Web3 and crypto is to be decentralised?

To own your own coins, have self-custody, power to the people, independency, to not trust others, but verify?

Why does it seem like everyone is so freaking dependent and entirely reliant on each other?

Voyager went down and blamed Luna.

3AC blamed Luna.

BlockFi blamed Luna.

Even the latest one, Genesis, more than a year after Luna died, still blamed Luna.

FTX was just defrauding and cheating customers’ funds, and they blamed Luna too.

Perhaps the damage that Do Kwon did was just that big.

Everyone was so dependent on Luna when the bull market was in full swing.

And when it took a dive, it literally brought everyone down too.

Some managed to cover up for a while and throw smoke screens, but eventually, it came back to bite them all.

So the big question is:

Is Binance next?

They are the biggest boy on the block.

Top of the food chain.

Apex Alpha King amongst peasants in crypto.

They had $7.7 trillion in cryptocurrency trading volume in 2022.

That’s 54% of all spot exchanges trading volume worldwide.

But seeing how all of Binance’s peers have fallen, are they next to go down?

Mazars, the financial auditing firm, threw shades when they abandoned Binance and scrubbed them off their website.

Apparently, SBF said on twitter that all is fine, hours before declaring bankruptcy.

Do Kwon reassured the world that Terra is fine, till it imploded unceremoniously.

Genesis sent out shareholder letters to assure everything was alright, and now they are filing for bankruptcy.

Do you see a pattern there?

The feds and competitors are out for Binance’s blood.

Will they survive the onslaught?

Are they hiding skeletons in the basements?

Will they go down like dominoes too?

–

Will Binance be in trouble next?

–

#startups #business #startupx #growth #success #socialmedia #culture #entrepreneurship #strategy #eth #btc #crypto #czbinance #cz #binance #NFT #profits #mazars #tvl #defi

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• Top 3 Binance Futures Trading Bots

Crypto seems to be a simple game of Dominoes, and everything is crashing down now. was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

https://medium.com/coinmonks/the-us-government-is-saying-dont-mess-with-me-21abd0908569?source=rss----721b17443fd5---4

Lets play a game shall we?

Read the following headlines and tell me what doesn’t fit in.

Jamie Dimon got paid $34.5M in 2022 as the CEO of JPMorgan.

Reed Hastings stepped down as Netflix’s CEO.

US reached its $31.4T debt ceiling.

New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern resigned abruptly.

FTX’s new CEO said the crypto exchange could restart.

Bitzlato was seized by the US government.

One of these does not fit in at all.

Bitzlato.

Ever hear of it?

I have been in crypto for years and I never heard of it.

Could it be a snazzy new cafe that serve mocha latte and accepts Bitcoin?

Nah it is way weirder.

A random crypto exchange got entangled with the US government for allegedly allowing criminals to launder crypto and now they wanna shut it down.

“The U.S. Department of Justice arrested and charged Russian national Anatoly Legkodymov, the founder of the Hong Kong-registered cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato, with helping cybercriminals allegedly launder illegally obtained money.”

As usual Crypto Twitter went wild.

“Prominent Celsius credit Tiffany Wong sarcastically tweeted that she had all of her money on Bitzlato”

BTC expert Zack Voell tweeted, “They missed FTX/They missed 3AC/They missed Celsius/They missed BlockFi/They missed Voyager/But at least they got Bitzlato,”.

Crypto lawyer Hailey Lennon tweeted, “I’ve worked in the space since 2013. Never heard of it.”

Hands up, shaking my head.

Basically with no KYC implemented, they are going to jail.

Without KYC, they essentially permitted anyone, criminal masterminds and school students alike, to launder and funnel cryptocurrencies unfettered, unchecked and unseen.

KYC is when an exchange verifies and ascertains your real identity and ensure you are not a shady criminal and you are who you say you are.

That is before they let you use their services.

So without KYC, naturally criminals and hackers who stolen crypto, would be able to easily deposit their ill-gotten tokens into the exchange and trade it for other currencies.

Admittedly, it is a huge problem.

To put things in perspective, according to a Chainalysis report on cryptocurrency-based money laundering activity, Bitzlato received more than 2 billion worth of crypto between 2019 and 2021, over $966 million representing illicit and risky cryptocurrency (amounting to roughly 48% of the total).

Today, the DOJ said that because of “deficient know-your-customer (KYC) procedures, Bitzlato allegedly became a haven for criminal proceeds and funds intended for use in criminal activity.”

“Chainalysis added that, according to its estimations, the crypto exchange “received $206 million from darknet markets, $224.5 million from scams, and $9 million from ransomware attackers.””

For that, U.S. Department of Justice arrested the founder, slammed the brakes on the exchange and literally wiped it off the face of the internet in one fell swoop.

The US Gov ain’t playing around.

When they started investigating criminal activities and looking seriously into crypto last year, they really meant it.

Why?

Well, the crypto market has gotten so large so quickly, that it would foolish to ignore its growth and adoption any more.

As crypto gets more mainstream, more retail investors pile in and more criminals enter the ecosystem to prey on the gullible.

Therefore, more policing and justice are needed.

Is it a vicious cycle?

Yes, absolutely.

But I believe it is necessary.

For any ecosystem, there needs to be escalation on either side, till an equilibrium is reached naturally.

Not sure why Bitzlato was the chosen one, but it will sure send a strong message down everyone’s spine and alert the entire crypto community.

And so it begins.

–

You ever heard of Bizlato?

–

#startups #business #startupx #growth #success #socialmedia #culture #entrepreneurship #strategy #eth #btc #crypto #bitzlato #scams #laundering #NFT #usgovernment #meme #hydramarket #defi

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The US Government is saying: Don’t mess with me! was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

https://medium.com/coinmonks/what-comes-after-f-41102b562eb?source=rss----721b17443fd5---4

You know what comes after “F” in the alphabet?

G!

Like top G, G for Gangsta, G for Godlike.

G for GTX!

That’s the awesome new exchange that promises to allow users to trade their bankruptcy claims.

How in the heck?

See 2022 saw the implosion of some of the largest crypto companies.

From FTX, Celsius, Voyager, 3AC and now even Genesis.

It seems in crypto, size don’t mean a thing.

You can be the world’s largest crypto exchange and have millions of users trading billions daily.

It could all be fraudulent and crumble in a second.

So when so many large crypto companies die, they go through bankruptcy.

What happens to all the users who had money on the exchanges or have funds stuck in the companies?

Sounds like a pretty HUGE pain point eh?

Opportunistic entrepreneurs love a good pain point to solve.

Well, that is exactly what FTX is for.

“Building on that base, the pitch deck said the new exchange will fill the “vacuum” left by FTX, adding crypto and eventually stocks”.

They aim to allow monetise the IOUs that those bankrupt companies gave you by letting you trade them with others who believes that it will be worth more in the future.

“The co-founders estimate that there’s about $20 billion in the crypto claims market, noting that GTX “unlocks” funds from the embattled FTX and Celsius trading firms “for immediate trading.” Zhu tells The Wall Street Journal that 3AC creditors will “have the option to convert their claims into equity in the new claim-trading company.””

Theoretically, it doesn’t sound that bad.

We have to ask: how will they even verify the claims?

It might work.

An infinitesimal chance it might play out.

Except until you realise who the founders are.

They are the founders of 3AC and CoinFlex.

3AC crashed and burned like the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs, impaling a $3.5B hole in the ecosystem.

CoinFlex also imploded, owing millions and pausing customer withdrawals.

Fun fact: Su Zhu and Kyle Davies from 3AC are the first known people on the planet to be ever subpoenaed via a Tweet!

That is because they are currently on the run and incredibly hard to get hold of.

Meanwhile, amidst all these drama, they can still start a new company, pitch for $25M and have a never-say-die spirit!

Seems like all the bad actors in crypto have an indomitable attitude and a fighting spirit like no other.

Taking the fact that they are trying to start a company to solve a rather peculiar and acute pain point that might only work in such a trying time, they are trying to raise funds “ASAP”.

I am deeply curious as to who would be degen enough to give them the funding.

This is cryptoland, there will be funders and VCs willing to take a crazy, ridiculous bet, however irrational and illogical it may be.

Let the dice roll and see who would be reckless enough to do so shall we?

At this point, I am really impressed with how things turn out in the crypto market.

There really isn’t a dull day.

You learn something new every time.

The bear market is for builders.

Even embattled cofounders with dirty track records and imploded companies can revive like phoenix from the ashes.

You better not give up.

Keep hustling and building.

*Apparently they renamed their company to OPNX!

–

Should we give failed crypto founders a second chance?

–

#startups #business #startupx #growth #success #socialmedia #culture #entrepreneurship #strategy #eth #btc #crypto #sifu #sifutoken #quadrigacx #NFT #profits #meme #tvl #defi

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What comes after “F”? was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.