# Mert Çiçekçi (Merth)

> Web3 builder, speaker, and educator based in Ankara, Turkey. Previously DevRel Engineer at Rise In and co-founder of Noe Labs (built Noether, a perpetual DEX on Stellar backed by an $86.2K Stellar Community Fund award with $353M+ in testnet volume); currently focused on independent learning, research, and self-development. Speaker at Web3 Warsaw 2026, main judge at Rise In's APAC Stellar Hackathon ($60,000 distributed across 3 tracks), and educator with 20+ workshops across Stellar, Sui, Stacks, Celo, Base, and Algorand. Studying at ODTU (METU); board member and dev lead at ODTU Blockchain, and on the organizing team for ODTU Blockchain Days.

This site: https://www.merth.xyz
Agent interface: https://www.merth.xyz/agents
Structured JSON: https://www.merth.xyz/agent.json
Human interface: https://www.merth.xyz/human
Pages: https://www.merth.xyz/about (bio), https://www.merth.xyz/projects (projects), https://www.merth.xyz/oss (open source), https://www.merth.xyz/work (speaking, judging, workshops), https://www.merth.xyz/contact (contact)

## Machine-readable pages (markdown mirrors)

- [About](https://www.merth.xyz/about.md): full bio and experience
- [Work](https://www.merth.xyz/work.md): speaking, judging, workshops, education
- [Projects](https://www.merth.xyz/projects.md): all projects with links
- [Open Source](https://www.merth.xyz/oss.md): OSS contributions and hackathon results
- [Contact](https://www.merth.xyz/contact.md): all contact channels
- [Stellar ecosystem work](https://www.merth.xyz/stellar.md): products, workshops, judging, community, and source-linked contributions
- [Supporting evidence](https://www.merth.xyz/evidence.md): portfolio claims, source links, and qualifications
- [Everything](https://www.merth.xyz/llms-full.txt): all of the above in one file

## Experience

- Learning & Research at Independent (Present): Heads-down on learning, research, and self-development — focused on life and what's next.
- Co-founder at Noe Labs (2026): Built Noether, a perpetual DEX, and next-generation DeFi products on Stellar.
- DevRel Engineer at Rise In (May 2025 - 2026): Drove developer adoption and education across Web3 ecosystems.
- Ambassador at Stellar Dev Foundation (Aug 2025 - Dec 2025): Represented the Stellar network and supported the local ecosystem.
- Full Stack & Smart Contract Developer at Campus Arc (Dec 2024 - May 2025): Full stack development and Solidity smart contract engineering.
- Board Member at ODTU Blockchain (May 2025 - Present): Leading technical initiatives and developer community at university.
- Founder at Tears of Astrea (Oct 2021 - 2024): Founded and operated a streetwear brand. Designed collections and managed operations.

## Projects

- **Noether** (Stellar / Soroban): A decentralized perpetual exchange on Stellar. Trade with leverage, fully on-chain, no middlemen. Backed by an $86.2K non-dilutive Stellar Community Fund award (SCF #41) and $353M+ in testnet volume. — https://testnet.noether.exchange/
- **Agentle** (AI / Web3): A non-custodial crypto wallet built for AI agents. Let your agents manage, send, and interact with on-chain assets autonomously. — https://www.agentle.app/
- **Puffin Privacy** (Sui / Move): Privacy-first messaging application built on Sui blockchain. End-to-end encrypted communications with on-chain identity verification. — https://www.puffinprivacy.xyz/
- **x402 Stellar** (Stellar / Soroban): Open Standard Payment Protocol enabling HTTP-native payments on Stellar. Seamless integration for developers building payment flows. — https://x402stellar.xyz
- **Stellar Agent MCP** (Stellar / MCP): MCP Server implementation for Stellar ecosystem. Connecting AI agents with Stellar blockchain through standardized context protocol. — https://github.com/mertkaradayi/stellar-x402/tree/main/examples/mcp
- **Sui Beep MCP Server** (Sui / MCP): MCP Server built for Sui ecosystem. Bridging AI capabilities with Sui blockchain operations through Model Context Protocol. — https://portal-sui-mcp-a402.vercel.app/

## Work (Speaking, Judging, Workshops, Education)

- **Web3 Warsaw** [Speaking] Speaker (Sep 9–10, 2026): Invited speaker on AI agents, onchain finance, and autonomous financial systems. Organized by Web3 Global Media. — https://x.com/web3_warsaw/status/2071901726601330987
- **APAC Stellar Hackathon** [Judging] Main Judge · All 3 Tracks (Jul 2026): Main judge across all three tracks at Rise In's APAC Stellar Hackathon, evaluating builders from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam — $60,000 distributed in prizes. — https://x.com/riseinweb3/status/2083131682333352061
- **ODTU Blockchain Days '26** [Organizing] Organizing Team · ODTU Blockchain (Apr 11-12, 2026): 4th edition of ODTU Blockchain Days — two days of panels, workshops, and networking at the METU Culture and Congress Center in Ankara. — https://www.bdays.org/
- **ODTU Blockchain Days '25** [Organizing] Organizing Team · ODTU Blockchain (Apr 19-20, 2025): 3rd edition, run hybrid — day one in person at the ODTU Culture and Congress Center, day two online. — https://www.bdays.org/bdays25/
- **Stellar Hack Pera** [Workshops] Mentor & Workshop Instructor (2025): Turkey's largest IRL Web3 hackathon with 200+ participants and 70 projects. — https://www.risein.com/blog/stellar-hack-pera-turkeys-largest-irl-web3-hackathon-with-200-participants-70-projects
- **ODTU X Stellar Workshop** [Workshops] DevRel · Workshop Instructor & Event Organizer (2025): Stellar & Soroban workshop at ODTU. Teaching smart contract development on Stellar. — https://x.com/odtublockchain/status/1983217200182784485
- **Build on Stellar ODTU Bootcamp - Rise In** [Workshops] DevRel · Workshop Instructor (2025): Advanced Stellar & Soroban bootcamp at ODTU with Rise In. Deep dive into DeFi development. — https://x.com/odtublockchain/status/2027093924439818332
- **Base Ankara Builder Program** [Workshops] Developer Lead & Workshop Instructor (2025): Leading the Base builder program in Ankara, organizing developer meetups and workshops. — https://x.com/merthxyz/status/1998862485705863535
- **Celo Builder Workshop** [Workshops] DevRel · Workshop Instructor (2025): Celo blockchain workshop. Teaching developers how to build on Celo ecosystem. — https://x.com/odtublockchain/status/1993936721415639409
- **Virtual Stellar Workshops** [Workshops] DevRel · Lead Instructor · 10+ Workshops (2025): Virtual workshop series on Stellar ecosystem. Delivered 10+ workshops on Soroban development. — https://www.risein.com/courses/build-on-stellar
- **Stacks Workshop** [Workshops] DevRel · Workshop Instructor · 3 Workshops (2024-2025): 3 workshops on Stacks blockchain and Bitcoin L2 development. — https://www.risein.com/courses/build-on-stacks
- **Stellar Full Stack Challenge** [Judging] DevRel · Instructor & Judge (2025): Led educational sessions and evaluated top 3 winning projects in the Stellar Full Stack challenge. — https://www.patika.dev/bootcamp/odullu-fullstack-challenge
- **Sui 101 & Web3 101** [Education] Blockchain 101 Educator (2025): Teaching fundamentals of Sui blockchain, Move programming, and decentralized application development. — https://luma.com/user/Merth
- **Algorand Documentation** [Education] Author (2024): Created comprehensive educational documentation for Algorand ecosystem on Rise In platform. — https://www.risein.com/courses/build-on-algorand/what-is-algorand
- **Stellar Journey to Mastery** [Education] DevRel · Instructor (2025): Comprehensive Stellar development course. From basics to advanced Soroban smart contract development. — https://www.risein.com/programs/stellar-journey-to-mastery-monthly-builder-challenges

## Open Source Contributions

- openclaw/openclaw PR #1827: Security fix: closed a prompt-injection path through external hooks (Gmail, web content). Merged Jan 2026. — https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/1827
- x402-foundation/x402 PR #1025: Replaced panics with proper error handling in the Go HTTP encoding path of the x402 payment protocol. Merged Feb 2026. — https://github.com/x402-foundation/x402/pull/1025
- stellar/x402-stellar PR #6: Fixed incorrect README instructions and cleared out stale files in Stellar's x402 implementation. Merged Mar 2026. — https://github.com/stellar/x402-stellar/pull/6

## Hackathon Results (as competitor)

- Sui Hackathon (EPFL): 2nd Place
- Sui Ideathon: 1st Place
- Stellar x Rise In: 1st Place
- Monad Blitz: 2nd Place
- Build on Sui: 3rd Place
- Tubitak Blockchain: 3rd Place
- ETHGlobal Cannes: Pool Track Winner

## Skills

- Smart contracts: Soroban/Rust (Stellar), Move (Sui), Solidity (EVM)
- Full stack: TypeScript, React, Next.js
- Developer relations: courses, workshops, hackathon organization and judging

## Contact

- Twitter / X: @merthxyz — https://x.com/merthxyz
- LinkedIn: cicekci-mert — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cicekci-mert/
- Telegram: @mertcicekci29 — https://t.me/mertcicekci29
- Email: mertcicekci29@gmail.com — mailto:mertcicekci29@gmail.com
- GitHub: mertcicekci0 — https://github.com/mertcicekci0