Kaupr and FirstBlock are entering a partnership around the blockathon in Stockholm in September. Both point to the same starting point: what is built on the blockchain outside finance gets too little attention.
Caption: Fati Hakim (right) in conversation with Morten Myrstad, Kaupr.
FirstBlock-athon is part of Nordic Tech Week 2026, where participants will build solutions to set problem statements over four days. Eight areas have been defined, and only two of them are finance. That distribution is what both parties point to in explaining the partnership: blockchain technology in the Nordics is discussed first and foremost as finance and cryptocurrency, while what is built outside that gets too little attention.
Fati Hakim, founder of FirstBlock and the initiator of the event, tried two years ago to get Nordic media and platforms to cover blockchain more broadly. She did not get far.
"As soon as you talk about blockchain in the Nordics, it's immediately connected to scams."
Hakim believes Kaupr has helped change that picture on the crypto side, and that the same work remains for everything else being built on the technology.
She sees a similar opportunity for the onchain initiatives that are not about finance or cryptocurrency, where the solutions can, in her view, solve real problems.
Morten Myrstad, editor at Kaupr, says something has been missing from the coverage of the field. Blockchain used for identity and for verifying what is true is one of several examples, he says, describing it as part of the original decentralised mission.
Finance, for its part, has been the fastest-moving part of the field, both in investment and infrastructure, he says.
What the partnership will involve in practice has not been settled in detail. Myrstad points to coverage before, during and after the event, and to the possibility of dedicated channels. Both parties describe their way of working as agile, and say much will be decided along the way.
Hakim describes the blockathon as a beginning rather than a standalone event.
"The blockathon is probably the first step in the direction of educating and showcasing what is possible on chain, beyond just financial solutions."
Further announcements have been signalled ahead of September.
The event has chosen impact as its theme. Hakim says the term has become closely tied to sustainability, and that they want to move it towards effect on future generations.
"Everything we are creating today, whether it's AI or the verification and trust layer beneath AI, will have a massive impact on future generations. I think that is a big responsibility."
She draws the parallel to social media, which shaped her own generation and the one after it. The responsibility does not rest with the organisers alone, she stresses, but with the developers who build and with those who take part.
The blockathon runs in Stockholm from 7 to 11 September. Applications are open on the FirstBlock-athon website.
Sources: Interview with Fati Hakim, Kaupr TV
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