On January 23, Moscow will host the Crypto Awards 2024 ceremony, which will determine the leaders of the year in the crypto industry in Russia. We talked to the organizer of the award, Alexey Zyuzin, who is also known as the co-founder of the largest summit on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies, Crypto Summit. He told us in which nominations the most fierce competition broke out and how the selection of nominees and winners is conducted.
How was the list of nominations for the award formed?
The Crypto Awards have 20 nominations. They are designed to showcase the diversity of the ecosystem and recognize the contributions of professionals from different fields: mining, exchange, NFT , marketing, educational projects and others. Many of them are from similar areas, but we deliberately separated them to highlight the contribution of each company in its niche. For example, the best full-cycle mining company and the best data center for mining are different nominations. The best distributor of mining equipment and the best manufacturer of containers for mining are also different nominations.
What are the key factors considered when selecting the winners?
We wanted to reflect the main quality of cryptocurrencies in the award — decentralization. Therefore, in addition to obvious factors such as transparency, security, integrity, an important factor was the assessment by the community. This assessment is formed from two components — the assessment by the user community and by the professional community.
The selection process takes place in several stages. First, we collected applications from nominees, then each of them was checked by the security service for integrity and transparency. At the next stage, participants took part in an online vote among users. The shortlist of the best projects will then be transferred to an expert jury, which will evaluate the nominees based on such criteria as innovation, real benefit to the industry, and reputation. Thus, the opinion of users and the professional assessment of the jury work in tandem. Based on the results of these stages, the final list of winners will be formed.
Now in Telegram Online voting is still ongoing, so it is too early to talk about the results.
How do you select jury members and experts?
Our jury consists of leading experts in various areas of the crypto industry. Among them are the founders of crypto exchanges and exchangers, lawyers, investors, traders, bloggers, creative people and those who work with regulatory authorities. This approach allows for a comprehensive assessment of the participants. Each expert is a professional with a deep understanding of their field. This composition allows for the nuances of each nomination to be taken into account, which means that the assessment will be as objective and professional as possible.
How do you assess the current competition among the nominees?
The competition is high. In some nominations, such as the best crypto exchange and the best distributor of mining equipment, we see how the leadership shifts from one participant to another during the online voting. This speaks of the active community that has formed around each nominee.
Over the almost 10 years of the crypto industry's existence, a highly professional community has formed on the Russian market. Everyone is fighting for both users and investors. At the same time, market mechanisms of competition are in effect, since there is no government support in this sector. And this is, in fact, for the best, since companies are trying to make high-quality services, invest wisely in marketing and promotion, and are ready to compete for leadership.
We are pleased to see that the participants strive for high standards, and each nomination becomes a real battle of the strongest.
What contribution do you think the award makes to the development of the crypto industry?
Crypto Awards helps to build a bridge between the professional community and users, showing the best projects on the market. It is also a networking platform, because yesterday's competitors can discuss common ground and possible collaborations during the gala dinner at the official part of the award ceremony.
Recognition motivates participants and contributes to the development of the industry as a whole. In addition, we help the community understand which projects are truly trustworthy, which is especially important for strengthening the market position in the eyes of a wider audience.
