In the recent World Blockchain Summit in Dubai, many blockchain industry leaders visited the CoinQuora media lounge. CEO Paruyr Shahbazyan and CMO Rossen Yordanov of Azuro visited us and gave us some insights into what they do at Azuro.
Can you guys give us a brief introduction of yourself and your projects to those who don’t know yet?
Paruyr: So I’m Paruyr Shahbazyan, and I’m the CEO of Azuro. Azuro is a decentralized blockchain protocol for betting.
Ross: My name is Ross and I am the CMO and co-founder of the project as well. I’m happy to be here.
Can you tell us a little bit about the project? How does it work? How do you integrate blockchain and crypto?
Paruyr: So it’s basically betting through smart contracts. So smart contracts have predetermined conditions based on which they will resolve and send the money to whichever party has won.
What’s the difference between this type of platform compared to the traditional betting platform?
Paruyr: Our platform is trustless. You don’t need to trust. But with the traditional, you need to deposit your money to your account, which the bookmaker has custody of. And for example, if you won something then the bookmaker decides whether to pay the winnings or not. It’s like that. It’s being done at their discretion. They can change the odds. Also, let’s say if you have won and you have money in your account, and you want it back, then you need to request it. Then, the bookmaker will approve it.
Moreover, let me tell you. I was a professional sports bettor for 10 years. As a pro, I didn’t get all my winnings most of the time. Thus, I got my winnings confiscated. My accounts were banned. So whenever you depend on people, it can go ugly at any time. So smart contracts are solving this issue.
Why did you really develop this project?
Paruyr: So after, after being uproar, I understood, like, how can I fix this industry because it’s broken, right? So I created bookmaker ratings. It’s now been 10 years since I started it in 2011. Now it’s the biggest online media in Eastern Europe about sports betting. And so our business is built on mistrust between players and bookmakers. Right. So we are the independent third party, which creates trust between these two parties. And with smart contracts, you don’t need to trust anyone. And so our own businesses are being disrupted by this technology, and that is one of the reasons that we decided to lead this disruption and create this protocol.
So how’s your experience so far, in the World Blockchain Summit? Can you tell us about, like, any thoughts about the event?
Paruyr: Yeah, I mean, we’re very happy to be here. It’s our first, well, probably second event. I was in London last week for another big event. And yeah, we’re just very excited to speak to people about what you’re doing. To see others you know, like smart driven people that are trying to change things or to achieve something. And also like ourselves, hopefully many of them are trying to do things for the better, you know, because I really see our project having a big impact in terms of what it can do for that particular industry.
How can people reach you? Let’s say that they’re interested in your project, do you have a website? Do you have a booth? How can people get a hold of your information?
Ross: Yeah, so the website is azuro.org. Then on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) azuro, on medium azuro protocol on Telegram as a protocol. And yeah, we have a small booth here as well. So if there’s anyone around, we will be happy to speak to them.
Do you have any final thoughts for us? Do you have any other events upcoming? Where can we find you next? Maybe you’re planning to go to the other events here in Dubai or anywhere else?
Ross: Yeah, for Dubai, I don’t think we have further plans. But some part of the team is actually going to Lisbon next week, which is going to be a big week. Great events there. So some of our tech and engineering guys are going to be there. They’re going to participate in a hackathon. We are also planning to host a nice event as well. So I think that’s going to be very exciting. And also we are planning for maybe Hong Kong we haven’t decided yet as the next event to do for Azuro.