Anastasiia Ilicheva is a Marketing, PR and Business Development Manager at DIBA (Digital Art and Assets on Bitcoin) and BitMask (Bitcoin Wallet Extension). She is Co-Founder and COO of The Babylon Project Hackathons by World Blockchain Hackathon.
“I’m inspired and excited by decentralization and its ability to bring power back to people. It is an opportunity for creating true diversity, inclusion and empowerment,” Anastasiia enthuses.
At DIBA, she supports teams building the first marketplace on Bitcoin using the RGB Smart Contract Protocol and Lightning Network. DIBA is pioneering this purpose as the firstever use of Bitcoin in this way. The DIBA marketplace will exchange Unique Digital Assets (UDAs) – commonly referred to as NFTs. BitMask is a DIBA product, a gateway wallet for the web3 utility of Bitcoin that’s set to transform the perception of Bitcoin.
She also hosts virtual global blockchain-focused hackathons, The Babylon Project by World Blockchain Hackathon, enabling blockchain enthusiasts and developers to build their startups, expand networks, and learn more about emerging technologies within the web3 space.
he discovered the potential of blockchain for social upliftment, empowerment, diversity and inclusion in 2020 and has since deep-dived into the space with excitement and enthusiasm. She is most excited by web3’s foundational concepts of decentralization, privacy, redistribution of power, and a community-first approach.
Asking Anastasiia about her role in the development and benefit of this new world presented by web3, she says her mission is to shape the digital art and asset economy on the principles of decentralized and inclusive empowerment.
“The future is unpredictable thanks to disruptive technologies, making it more exciting. Bitcoin is becoming widely adopted, which grabs governments’ attention worldwide. Even a couple of years ago, we couldn’t imagine the influence of web3 around the world. NFTs were around for a long time before 2021, but no one could predict that they would become so popular that we even created massive conferences dedicated to them. People are taking back control of the future and shaping it for a better world – today.”
As web3 is still in its infancy in terms of emerging digital technologies, Anastasiia believes that no singular definition of the Metaverse exists. While the Metaverse is a combination of virtual reality and mixed reality worlds visited in a digital form, she wholeheartedly supports the theory that the Metaverse is not a virtual place but a time. “Shaan Puri theorizes that the Metaverse is the moment in time where our digital life is worth more than our physical one. I think this description of the Metaverse will hold true within five to 10 years’ time where this will become normalized.”
According to Anastasiia, the global Metaverse market will be worth $280 billion by 2025. “I think we need to accept the fact that in five years’ time, Metaverses will become part of our daily lives. More and more people will work within the Metaverse, with many different ways of interaction than we have today. We will not only visit Metaverses for art exhibitions, music concerts or themed events, but we will become part of the Metaverse.
How will the Metaverse impact people’s lives? Anastasiia believes the space is growing more inclusive as more large corporations and governments build their digital presence in the Metaverse. In the United Arab Emirates, Dubai plans to become one of the world’s top ten Metaverses: inclusion, opportunity, diversity, and empowerment will take on ever more meaningful impacts.
It will also redefine the healthcare industry. It is building Metaverses to enable non-contact appointments with patients to provide better healthcare services. Similarly, businesses will be able to use the Metaverse not only as a marketing tool but as a point of contact with clients/users, allowing enhanced shopping experiences for physical items.
If 2021 was the year that web3 and the Metaverse reached mainstream consciousness, according to Anastasiia, it has accelerated the development of this space. She’s part of a team shaping a better tomorrow today. “We are building a product that will change the NFT space by providing lower fees, the longevity of the art, and security backed by the strongest blockchain. We’ve been told many times that it’s impossible to build products on Bitcoin, but we’re proving it’s possible to do so: we’re getting closer to the official launch on the Bitcoin main-net.”
Her mission goes to the roots of this space. She is building and fostering an international community and ecosystem of builders by providing and democratizing access to knowledge, capital, and mentorship. She strives to educate, empower and elevate the next generation of builders for a better world of tomorrow.
It is a world in which anyone can join and make an impact. According to Anastasiia, the more diverse the space, the greater the innovation it can deliver. “Never give up on what you believe in. Never give up if you truly believe in something and know its value. Obstacles will always arise, but that’s part of everyone’s journey, which can either break you or make you stronger. I’m waking up happy every day knowing that the projects I’m part of are truly diverse, inclusive and empowering.”
