Grin Istanbul
Istanbul is my city, where I was born, grown up. So many memories and milestones in my life. And GRIN is my passion since 2019 first I ve heard of it, explored and slowly grasped the idea, I didn’t know my two passions would intersect Istanbul and GRIN, became GrinIstanbul. Idea is merged suddenly, I was chatting with @renzokuken and @davidt, made an invitation just like ‘’ just buy the tickets and fly. Don’t worry’’. They gently accepted invitation and time is scheduled, GrinIstanbul became real.
So we met, @renzokuken, @cekickafa, @davidt, @stakervali completed a 7 day-1 week, everyday was full time, really flew by, less sleeping, lots of food and drink, and certainly much more GRIN 😊
What did we do?
Our day begins about 9 a.m. with a traditional breakfast of çay (tea), followed by talks and views about GRIN and the overall crypto and socioeconomic situation of the world. Yes, we have decided we are gonna save the world with ツ!
And continue to work till lunchtime. @Renzokuken was a coffee drinker before GrinIstanbul, but he gradually became a tea drinker; you don’t see him drinking here, but he was hooked to tea. @davidt may become a tea enthusiast soon, albeit he still currently prefers coffee.
Working after breakfast, but still tea and cookies (which @stakervali believes stimulates and is beneficial to productivity). This glass table witnessed intense GRIN talks, laughs, ideas, and passion. Plenty of ツ, tea, breakfast, and meals.
GRIN Telegram Bot
A bot is an example of an automated computer software that can do duties such as supplying answers to frequently asked inquiries or general information (like weather, crypto price updates, etc.) @renzokuken has been working on the bounty proposal — Telegram tipping bot (https://forum.grin.mw/t/telegram-bot-progress-thread-by-renzokuken/9882/29) which was funded by GRIN Community Council.
He decided to extend his work to a general framework for development of bots with various functionalities of interacting with GRIN. What GRIN requires is a utility and users that require this utilization with GRIN. We chatted, discussed, and exchanged ideas, and we all concluded that the GRIN Telegram Bot is an ideal candidate for GRIN adoption.
The following are the reasons behind this idea:
- GRIN is a decentralized currency, opensource
- Sending and receiving GRIN is different from other blockchains & cryptos
- UX-Usability goes hand in hand with adoption
- SLATEPACKS (Sending money-GRIN-crypto like email or SMS)
- TELEGRAM is a widely known messenger with 700 million active users
- Telegram has a highly flexible API and free platform for BOT development
When I asked @renzokuken what kinds of bots might be created, he offered me an example of a GRIN-related inquiry bot. You can pose a question in the Telegram group and use GRIN-BOT to provide a prize for the correct response. When you approve someone’s response, that person can withdraw the prize by interacting with GRIN-BOT. This can be a source of income for community members who can answer simple questions and assist others.
SLATEPACK wins ツ
There are a variety of different applications for bots, such as placing an order for beer, shopping, etc. GRIN will be one step closer to the ‘’Medium of Exchange ‘’
Briefly, GRIN has the potential to be THE most compatible crypto app with TELEGRAM in the cryptocurrency space. I advise you to think a little bit and sure to follow Grinventions channel for all detailed, technical information and progress. I strongly support this GRIN Telegram BOT idea for the well-being of GRIN and believe the success of it.
If you imagine paid channels, subscriptions in the messenger area, people will discover that GRIN is very EASY to use! Moreover, using any programming language that you are comfortable with, you are able to construct your own bots. This will attract many developers, enlarge GRIN contribution and potentially new developers will join to the GRIN!
GRIN other Implementations
Grin is a RUST imlpementation of MimbleWimble protocole, ok we already know it. But different implementations are needed and welcome for an open-source project, for more stability and security balancing. We had discussions regarding the future of GRIN, its development, and potential upgrades in GRINIstanbul. I believe that software maintenance is a continual issue, and that providing bug fixes and updates necessitates a large amount of human resources. So, how can we bring in additional devs and human resources?
Different approaches should always be welcomed and supported. When I dug more into this, I asked and received responses from @renzokuken and @stakervali, both of whom know Python; a Python implementation is a powerful proposal because it is a language that can be learnt quickly and is used by a huge number of developers worldwide.
Python is not just a beginner-friendly language; it also has a powerful active community. Multiple implementations complement and strengthen one another. Development of Grin becomes more steady, and future is guaranteed.
Sincerely i am happy that @renzokuken already started that python implementation, strongly I support. And also Grin Community Counsil funded CFFI wrapper of our secp256k1-zkp fork , should be noted.
A general discussion regarding the benefits of utilizing various implementations be considered, be encouraged to my view.
GRINISTanbul Moments
After breakfast and Grin round table activity, we hit the street of Istanbul. Istanbul is an ancient city, divided into two by the Bosphorus strait, with one half in Asia and the other in Europe. It is Eurasia where two continents meet, like a slatepack GRIN tx. We were mostly at the Europe part of the city.
We went to various museums and historical sites, including Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern
and, most notably, the Istanbul Archeology Museum.
We looked at ancient historical relics and monuments, as well as antique coins and the history of money.
Many ancient kingdoms called Anatolia (the majority of modern Turkey) home. One of them, the Lydia Kingdom lasted in Anatolia from 1200- 546 BC. Lydians were the first to utilize gold and silver money and the first people to build retail shops in permanent places.
They were also the first to shop at stores. After Lydia, there were various civilizations, and there was an unusual “COIN ROOM”.
Kapalıçarşı GRAND BAZAAR -P2P crypto free market and GRIN
We visited the Grand Bazaar (Kapalçarşı), which is situated in the center of Istanbul and is one of the world’s oldest and biggest jewelry and gold marketplaces. It’s been around for almost 500 years. It has historically served as a crossroads for commerce between Europe and Asia.
The majority of transaction here is cash and peer-to-peer, and there is considerably more bitcoinization here with merchant storefronts. Bitcoin is gradually replacing gold in Grand Bazaar.
I already engaged with a few local exchange shops, and none of them had heard GRIN ! It was their first encounter with GRIN and MimbleWimble protocole. They are fascinated by the idea that there are no addresses. This is a mainly uncontrolled, P2P free market run using gold and cash. Bitcoin is becoming more popular these days. GRIN and Grand Bazaar complement each other well...
And maybe in the near future, in 2023, the GRIN brand will be added to such establishments. I’ll make an attempt to make it a reality. We’ll get there, GRIN transactions for everyone! Without censorship or restrictions, designed for the decades to come, not just for tomorrow. To be used by anyone, anywhere. How beautiful matches to this environment! What do you think?
Crypto People and ecosystem in Turkiye
Bitcoin’s level of popularity has skyrocketed in nations struggling with unstable currencies and high rates of inflation.
According to a report on worldwide adoption trends compiled by the specialist data provider Chainanalysis, the volume of cryptocurrency transactions conducted in Turkey is the biggest in the Middle East. In Turkey, transaction volumes increased by 1,500 percent in comparison with the previous year. In addition, BIS and WORLDBANK data show that young people in Ukraine and Turkiye are more likely than anyone in any other country to be interested in cryptocurrency.
Another GRINISTanbul maybe ?
ISTANBUL has around 57 universities, with the majority of them having blockchain student clubs. We planned to meet other crypto enthusiasts since @renzokuken had a connection with several university students who were interested in the Mina protocol. Surprisingly, they had not heard of GRIN!! Ideas and conversations were generated.
The main subject was GRIN, and @renzokuken discussed the GRIN culture, governance, the nature of GRIN’s decentralized structure, how it is driven by the community, how it is open source, and how it accepts contributions of all types. Dtavarez offered them some insight into how he contributed, and some students are welcome to participate.
They became interested in this. And the idea of holding a MW/GRIN hackathon+workshop in ISTANBUL emerged.
Conclusion ツ
A Community is consist of humans, real people with real life, daily problems, emotionally and physically. It takes time, work, effort, some solid friendship, and mutual understanding for a real solid community.
Online interaction cannot replace the real-world human interaction. That is why see lots of Bitcoin or other crypto events, conferences, meetups, hackathon and workshops. In my opinion, those gatherings are crucial for a decentralized project like GRIN that plans to become a global, widespread e- currency.
Because there is no central authority, company or legal entity, this responsibility and effort falls to us. Personally, I enjoyed too much, learnt too much, asked many questions, and boost my faith in GRIN. Absolutely a unique experience for a person and gatherings like these will help strengthen our community if they happen more frequently.
It was an unique experience with @renzokuken, @cekickafa @davidt, @stakervali. It will never be forgotten. Thank you for realizing GrinIStanbul all together.
Greetings from Istanbul to whole Grin Community,also to Ignotus wherever he is. ツ
Hope to see GRIN community at next GRINISTanbul !
P.S Never underestimate the impact of knowing a person in real life, rather than online.
