Taxir is a communication and research initiative working towards facilitating BLOCKCHAIN adoption in MENA.
MISSION
Taxir is a research, education and communication initiative working to facilitate blockchain adoption in the Arab region.
Our mission is guided by our nuanced and multifaceted understanding of blockchain.
We first see blockchain as a general purpose technology, having the potential to deeply impact various aspects of our loves. Insofar, blockchain’s greatest legacy can be seen in the finance and culture sectors. With time, we expect to see blockchain technology transforming many more sectors.
Secondly, we understand blockchain as a social movement, born as a response to unsound monetary policies, and grew as a protest against intermediary / platform economy work crisis, exploitive and inefficient business models and a highly centralized world.
By combining our comprehensive understanding of blockchain with our lived understanding of the Arab region and its potentials and challenges, we came to build our initiative around the following objectives:
- Presenting blockchain as an alternative financial infrastructure for the large unbanked and underbanked populations of the Arab region.
- Introducing personal finance culture to an audience that has been long excluded from the financial world.
- Promoting approaches of decentralized and horizontal governance and self-organization as a corner stone to building alternative, better business models.
- Exploring how blockchain can revitalize the cultural economy of the region by creating fairer, more inclusive and democratic art institutions and cultural infrastructure.
- Encouraging the region’s youth to learn blockchain skills, and gain exposure to blockchain through up-skilling.
- Creating a favorable and safe regional blockchain sphere, by advocating for progressive regulations and educating on safe practices.
NON-PROFIT
Approach
Taxir’s approach to mainstreaming blockchain adoption in the Arab region is based on five pillars:
Initiating Projects. We take a ‘show, don’t tell’ approach to introducing different aspects of blockchain (technology / movement) to the Arab audience, by initiating and instigating prefigurative public good projects that provide the curious with an opportunity to learn, experiment and build. You can find below our public good projects portfolio, and you can read more about them in our whitepaper here.
Scene Building. Taxir plays a crucial role in building the Arab blockchain sphere, by connecting projects, builders and entrepreneurs together, and fostering several collaborations and partnerships.
Research. Taxir carries out research to identify blockchain adoption barriers in the Arab region, and to develop decentralized governance models.
Education. Taxir has produced several online Arabic courses tackling specific aspects and use cases of blockchain, and focusing on occupational skilling. Browse Taxir’s catalogue of educational content on our Youtube channel.
Discourse Shaping. Taxir organizes and participates in events on blockchain technology to promote a balanced discourse around blockchain and cryptocurrencies, advocating for rational and well informed adoption. Learn more about our participation here.
Public Goods Portfolio
AbjaDAO. AbjaDAO is an alliance of four Arab organizations developing, maintaining and propagating the first methodical and standardized Arabic glossary for blockchain and web3 terminology. AbjaDAO is now used by the Solana, Ethereum and Algorand foundations amongst 20 other entities. You can access AbjaDAO through this link.
MousDAO. MousDAO is an onboarding program for Arab musicians and music workers interested in exploring career development opportunities and new streams of income within the blockchain / web3 sphere. The program consists of an educational specialization made of three online Arabic courses on music and web3, beside a virtual community with plans to grow it into a DAO. MousDAO lives on Instagram and Discord.
BunaDAO (in-progress). BunaDAO is an experiment in decentralizing art institutions and cultural infrastructure in the Arab region, by developing a virtual art gallery / music venue on a decentralized metaverse platform (Decentraland), that is governed by its community through a DAO. BunaDAO received funding and will launch in January 2024.
DeLeb (concept-phase). DeLeb is a decentralized investment club where Lebanese freelancers can offer essential services to Lebanese startups in exchange for liquidity.
2099 (concept-phase). 2099 is a dual lingual (Ar / En) blog on emerging technologies and futurology, that will launch in late 2023.
FOR-PROFIT
Taxir’s diverse business and media team offers a set of services and products that are essential to any blockchain business operating in or expanding to the Arab market.
Localization (Arabic)
Our localization offering covers five essential areas: Translation (backed by AbjaDAO), Media Buying, Consultancy, Social Media & Content and Events. To learn more about our offering, you can browse this catalogue or reach out to Ammar Manla Hasan (ammar@taxir.xyz).
Deal FLow
Taxir works with some of the Arab region’s pioneering blockchain projects to identify and secure funding and investment opportunities. We onboarded 4 projects for our 2023 cohort. Our new cohort starts on February 2024. For inquiries, contact Ali Karake (ali@taxir.xyz).
Governance Consultation
Taxir has been offering governance consultation to several MENA based projects, including Lebanon’s Alternative Syndicate of Journalism and Syria’s Sada Sound Syndicate. For inquiries, reach out to contact@taxir.xyz
MENA Blockchain Ecosystem Database (in-progress)
Taxir is constructing the first database that maps the blockchain ecosystem in the Arab region. The database cosists of seven sheets, covering: Blockchain Startups, Investors & VCs, Investments, Accelerators / Incubators, Events, Ecosystem Enablers and Contacts. We will update this section when the database is open for subscriptions.
TEAM
Ali Karake
Peter Houaiss
Adele Jarrar
An independent curatorial and cultural worker and a researcher. Adele has an MA in arts and cultural management and a BA in architecture. She has a wide-ranging experience in curating, writing, and production. Recently collaborated with The Question of Funding collective at Documenta, and has been a resident artist at Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto in Biella. Adele is interested in self-organization, artist-run initiatives, and digitality.
Nour Ezzeddine
Moustafa Sbeity
Taxir’s own human crunching machine, Moustafa spends his time chasing down Web 3 rabbit holes, with emphasis on GameFi, the Metaverse, and multi media applications of blockchain technology.
Nadim El Roz
A media virtuoso with filming and video production expertise spanning the Lebanese video industry, working with news channels and music video directors alike, Nadim is leading Taxir’s video production and coverage from behind the lense.
Ammar M. Hasan
The former EIC of Ma3azef, Ammar has co-curated art exhibitions, symposiums, Boiler Room collaborations, and did some war-reporting in Syria.
Yasser Al Maamoun
An architect, researcher and graphic designer, Yasser now teaches at the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg University, and works on multiple NFT and GameFi projects.
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