Here’s Why You Should Attend PH Web3 Festival (Nov. 14 to 18)

I attended an event in January 2019 wherein an industry person from a crypto exchange said they and some partners were looking to create a “blockchain week” in the Philippines. The idea was to gather the companies here, and invite international companies in one events place for one week.

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Suffice to say, the idea did not push through. To be honest, it may have been ahead of its time back then, because a week-long event should have enough attraction to showcase developments in the host country. We were deep into the bear market in 2019 anyway, who wants to spend money?

By 2021, things have certainly changed. There is no dispute that the Philippines is a trailblazer in the world of blockchain and crypto. The country ranks second or third in terms of NFT ownership, depending on which survey you read. We also ranked no. 1 in terms of play-to-earn users. At one point in time, remittances from blockchain games, specifically Axie Infinity, even eclipsed the remittances the country received from OFWs in Hong Kong. 

Along with it comes the rise of Filipino-led companies leading the industry instead of being just path followers. The most recognizable web3 companies in the Philippines, Yield Guild Games and BlockchainSpace are organizing Philippine Web3 Festival, a week-long event and celebration of the country’s place in the global web3 industry. The most recognizable companies and organizations locally and abroad will all be in the country for the festival on November 14 to 18, 2022.

Two-Day Web3 Hackathon (Nov. 13 to 14, 2022)

PH Web3 Festival will kick off with a free two-day and forty-hour hackathon that aims for participants to bring their web3 product or business idea to life. Team participants will be mentored by partners and investors, including YGG, Xave Finance, and UBX, the key organizers of the hackathon.

The first-place winner will receive ₱100,000. The second and third placers will receive ₱50,000 and ₱25,000 respectively.

Main Event Conferences (Nov. 15 to 18, 2022)

The main content of the festival is the conference happening between the mentioned dates at Marquis Events Place in BGC, Taguig City, Philippines. Featuring the key leaders in the web3 space, the festival will begin with the keynote: A brief history of #CryptoPH, an essential primer, especially for the majority who got onboard into crypto only last year. The keynote will be delivered by Colin Goltra, COO of Yield Guild Games, formerly Head of Crypto at Coins.ph and former Director for Southeast Asia at Binance. 

Yield Guild Games’ team, including Head of the Philippines Luis Buenaventura, Katrina Gonzalez, Celeste Rodriguez, and co-founder Beryl Li will also speak at the event. Bery Li will be on the panel moderated by this writer about the first 1 million Filipinos in crypto. Much of the discussion on Main Event Day 1 will center on what has happened and what is currently happening in the space. Day 1 of the Philippine Web3 Festival will provide attendees with knowledge on the current CryptoPH scene in the Philippines, from crypto pioneers in the Philippines like Coins.ph to companies spearheading to onboard the next million Filipinos in crypto like BlockchainSpace.

Day 2 and Day 3 of PH Web3 Festival will focus primarily on the space’s current developments as well as discussions about its future. The emergence of guilds is a phenomenon not seen in previous market cycles, with 750 guilds operating in the Philippines, as per data from BlockchainSpace, 

Some interesting panels include an overview of Guild Infrastructure with BlockchainSpace, and Global Guild Outlook: A Glimpse into the future of guilds. Day 2 will also highlight esports, an increasingly important category on which many games in the space are focusing. Esports in Blockchain Gaming will be hosted by Een Mercado with speakers Nix Eniego (Axie Infinity), Sascha Jochum (Ampverse), Joe Josue (Metasports), and MIke Ovecka (YGG Esports).

Finally, musician and entrepreneur Apl.De.Ap and Nas Daily founder Nuseir Yassin will be at the event to discuss why web3 needs communities and how Filipino creators are ripe to become global content creators today.

Side Events (Multiple Dates)

Aside from the main conference, there are a number (read: many) side events that are going to happen simultaneously or after the conference ends in the afternoon. 

Country Game Nights

Representatives and companies from other countries are organizing “country game nights” such as Korea Game Night on the 15th and Japan Game Night on the 16th, both hosted by BlockchainSpace.

Networking and Side Conferences

Depending on the person’s preferences, they may choose to go to networking events which are usually open to invitations, or community events, like “BInance Community Meetup”. There will also be side conferences, like Bitskwela’s Philippine Web3 Debate, and educational meetups like BitPinas and TZ APAC’s smart contract developer workshop, also on the 16th.

Watch Parties

Finally, those who will not be able to attend the main conferences can also go to the Watch Parties organized by the community. There will be watch parties in Bicol, Cabanatuan, Baguio, Cebu, Batangas, Davao, and Iloilo

Axie Open Manila 2022

PH Web3 Festival will end with the finals of Axie Open Manila 2022, an Axie Infinity tournament with ₱7 million/$120k  in total prizes to be given away to winners.

This will be the biggest Axie Tournament in the Philppines, and registration is free for everyone. 

Tickets to Philippine Web3 Festival is available here.

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This article is published on BitPinas: Here’s Why You Should Attend PH Web3 Festival (Nov. 14 to 18)

Disclaimer: BitPinas articles and its external content are not financial advice. The team serves to deliver independent, unbiased news to provide information for Philippine-crypto and beyond.