Kozybayev University Student Ansar Kazbekov Wins 2 Million Tenge at the Crypto Ideathon Kazakhstan Competition

As part of Kazakhstan’s strategy to develop the crypto and blockchain industry and strengthen the country’s position as a regional crypto hub, Binance Kazakhstan launched the national online idea competition Crypto Ideathon 2025. The initiative aims to engage students and young people in learning about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, foster innovative thinking, and support ideas for the further digitalization of Kazakhstan.

Participants proposed ideas that could be implemented on a nationwide scale, developing creative educational solutions to increase knowledge of and trust in crypto technologies. The total prize fund of the competition amounted to 7,000 dollars in USDC tokens.

Ansar Kazbekov, a student of the Faculty of history, economics and law enrolled in the joint Business and Management degree program with the University of Arizona, presented the EdFi (Education Finance Protocol) application. The project is designed to address potential challenges related to declining academic motivation among students and to enable the large-scale adoption of blockchain technologies across the regions of Kazakhstan. Kozybayev University will serve as the pilot platform, while Professor Dinmuhammed Shaikin, Head of the Department of Economics, Accounting, and Finance, acts as the project mentor.

“EdFi is the first university ecosystem based on the Learn-to-Earn model. Within my project, BNB Chain has been directly integrated into the educational process. A smart contract automatically rewards students with tokens for a high GPA, class attendance, and active participation in the academic and social life of the university,” Ansar Kazbekov noted.

The solution proposed by Ansar makes it possible to convert academic grades into a liquid digital asset. As a result, students receive a direct financial incentive to improve their academic performance, along with their first experience using non-custodial wallets in a secure environment. The earned tokens can be used to pay for cafeteria services, accommodation in student dormitories, or withdrawn via Binance Pay.