A couple of days ago I attended startup Grind Athens presenting the CEO of Norblock Astyanax Kanakakis. Startup Grind is a monthly meetup – presentation of successful Greek startups. To my knowledge, this was the first time a blockchain startup was featured in this event. The organizers promised another blockchain startup at the April or March event. Seeing the attendance I can draw a safe conclusion that blockchain related topics are gaining much attention . More on that later.  

![cryptos.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSz9Rt2d8VupbAPGtoayvxpKYAZuKwngYv7gGvCC7JCtA/cryptos.png)


## Norblock
 
Norblock is aiming to simplify the KYC process. KYC stands for Know Your Costumer. It’s the irritating process we go through when we have to identify ourselves. I suppose we all have a similar experience when we wanted to register with a financial institution for example ( bank , exchange etc ). Norblock’s solution uses the blockchain, so that we go through the process once and whoever wants the data and can access it without us getting involved, except of course giving permission. This is a very sensitive subject and I am giving you an extremely simplified description, just to get the gist. 

![Screen Shot 2018-01-18 at 19.26.21.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZJberQjin4tifUhypgEo48Ty9v6wNDyNKC3FgLbLN9x2/Screen%20Shot%202018-01-18%20at%2019.26.21.png)

For more details you can visit Norblock’s [web site]( https://norbloc.com/). 

##  Astyanax Kanakakis

The man of honors was the CEO of Norblock, Astyanak Kanakakis . The name is pronounced A-sti-a-na-ks for those interested. Astyanax has spent more than 12 years in Finance and Consulting, most recently as Associate Partner in McKinsey & Company, specializing in banking and corporate finance. He was previously Chief Commercial Officer in KnCGroup, the bitcoin blockchain pioneer, and Chairman of the Board in XBT Provider, the global leader in cryptocurrency ETNs. He, also, holds a BSc. in Computer Science and Electronic Engineering from University College London, an MSc in Advanced Computing from Imperial College, an MSc in Information Systems Management from London School of Economics and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

![IMG_20180116_185537_resized_20180118_110918361.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSYiXxVAgLyGeSdNVtHMa84Z6hHaCFitNxwwVcBe3hCzp/IMG_20180116_185537_resized_20180118_110918361.jpg)

During his talk he presented his company, what are they are trying to solve and how they are going to make it. After the talk, there was a lengthy Q&A about blockchain technology and cryptos in general. The bitcoin-is-a-bubble question came up as expected, as well questions about data safety and banking. Overall is was a very interesting event and I am looking forward the next blockchain one.  

## Attendance 

The venue was jam packed as you can see from the photos. Most of the attendees were knowledgeable, but there were newbies as well. What strike me the most was that I saw many people from 35 to 45 years old and older. This means that this generation is starting to get interested in this type of technology and it’s important because they have way more money than younger people. Unfortunately, the crowd was heavily male dominated, so we have to work to bring more ladies onboard. This will also help the spending and crypto money circulation. 

![Screen Shot 2018-01-18 at 19.32.36.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmbSYNkPW839fpGjiURJTUFYvj1mJDY7kTueqWcmVw8i8S/Screen%20Shot%202018-01-18%20at%2019.32.36.png)

![Screen Shot 2018-01-18 at 19.33.14.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVPZLZQapJpLiohVx8Xa19K7JVSzVP5eirsVgBA1i2MBa/Screen%20Shot%202018-01-18%20at%2019.33.14.png)


![Screen Shot 2018-01-18 at 19.33.41.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSxq3r4JByyHnihsMyHA5dRdZAkP348AjqGmHZyNAiWTA/Screen%20Shot%202018-01-18%20at%2019.33.41.png)


[Image source](https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-athens-presents-astyanax-kanakakis-norbloc)

From personal experience, I can tell that the interest/curiosity of the general population is getting bigger and bigger. I went to a class last weekend and almost everybody asked me about bitcoin, I have friends that want to go for a coffee to explain to them all those unknown words I post on Facebook and cryptos are an important piece of many of the conversations that I have nowadays. I am happy about that since I believe that blockchain technology will improve our lives. And furthermore, it validates certain choices that I have made. 

That was it. Something tells me that I will cover many more crypto events in the future. 

**And until the next blockchain event,
Be healthy , smile and Steem !**