The inaugural Blockchain World Abu Dhabi welcomed over 5,300 attendees and streamed live, with global online visitors from over 100 countries. This was considerd the largest Blockchain event attendance in MENA region for online and offline audiences. The event featured over 60 expert speakers with a total online reach of 1.3 billion social followers.
With a total of 60 international expert speakers and 32 Media partners educating 5,329 attendees over 3-days this was truly ‘not your typical blockchain event’. Not only were crypto and blockchain enthusiasts and businesses present in abundance, Blockchain World’s mission to educate everyone made the show truly unique by incorporating gaming, trading and entrepreneurial workshops and masterclasses into an engaging experiential led event. The first XR studio was launched in the Middle East, the Helicon Studio, producing over 17 shows in less than 3-days totalling over 30 hours of studio quality video content. Key global experts and speakers included: Jordan Belfort, “The Real Wolf of Wall Street”; David Shing, Aka ‘Shingy’; Christopher Travers, Offbeat Media Group; Brett King, Neo Bank, Moven; Isaac Serwanga, Speaker and Author.
Blockchain World Abu Dhabi welcomed local and international dignitaries and ministers. The opening ceremony was attended by: H.E Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Hamed, Chairman of Department of Health, Abu Dhabi; H.E. Eng. Awaidha Murshed Al Marar, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy; H.E. Ahmed Mohammed Al Rumaithi, Undersecretary of the Department of Energy; Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and Group CEO of ADNEC.
THE LAUNCH OF HELICONNFT
At Blockchain World Abu Dhabi we witnessed the launch of a new era of online and blockchain gaming, the launch of HeliconNFT. Placing the power back into the hands of the gamer, HeliconNFT is a new vision of how a DeFi, NFT and gaming platform should be. HeliconNFT is a new online universe, combining a gaming Metaverse with an NFT buying & trading platform that provides real rewards where you can play, mine and earn to become the master of a new market. Alongside the platform launch was the launch of Helicon Studio and Helicon Media, new wave content and information outlets designed to provide exceptional quality viewer content alongside industry-leading experiences.
At the launch HeliconNFT announced global partnerships with UK-based Bad Fox Studios and Fundamentally Games, met as HeliconNFT held recent discussions with the UK’s gaming and interactive entertainment trade association Ukie, to provide custom gaming options for future players and integrate existing gaming greats into the platform.
BLOCKCHAIN AND THE FUTURE OF THE UAE
The UAE has always been a visionary throughout the last 50 years, driving innovation across both the region and the world. Both Abu Dhabi and Dubai have been blockchain and fintech enthusiasts, aiming to save millions of hours of manpower whilst providing a more efficient, safer and greener form of government and administration, alongside providing key business drivers, such as the SCA and DWTCA agreement on crypto asset licensing, and investing in all things cryptoverse and metaverse. Most recently, Mubadala Investment Company announced their interest in the crypto eco system, with CEO and Managing Director Khaldoon Al Mubarak stating an interview with CNBC, “I think it (crypto) is real. This is a business that had $200 billion worth of value two years ago, and is $2.5 trillion value today and growing. So while many people are sceptics, I do not fall in that category.”
Since 2013 when the “Smart Dubai Initiative” was first introduced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai to transform Dubai into a smart city, his aim was to provide better quality of life to all by harnessing future tech, which we see now in the Dubai, Blockchain Strategy 2020 and Emirates Blockchain Strategy.
