# Mert Çiçekçi (Merth) — My work on Stellar Builder, educator, and contributor. Previously DevRel Engineer at Rise In and co-founder of Noe Labs. ## Products & tooling ### Noether Co-founder & CTO · Previous venture Co-founded Noe Labs and built Noether, a perpetual exchange on Stellar using Soroban smart contracts, a trading interface, and an automated keeper. Presented the working testnet product at a Stellar developer meeting. $86.2K awarded in SCF #41. $353M+ in reported testnet trading volume; this is testnet activity, not mainnet volume or revenue. - [SCF #41 award & team](https://communityfund.stellar.org/submissions/reckl3eLzAYMQuhTA) - [Stellar developer meeting · Apr 16, 2026](https://developers.stellar.org/meetings/2026/04/16) - [Testnet trading app](https://testnet.noether.exchange/) - [Team’s testnet volume report](https://x.com/Noetherdex/status/2082846152924275177) ### x402 Stellar Builder · Payments tooling Co-built an implementation of HTTP-native payments for Stellar, giving developers a way to add payment flows to their applications. The project took first place at the Stellar × Rise In hackathon. - [Project website](https://x402stellar.xyz) - [Source repository](https://github.com/mertkaradayi/stellar-x402) - [My hackathon recap](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cicekci-mert/) ### Stellar Agent MCP Builder · AI tooling Built an MCP server example in the Stellar x402 project, connecting AI agents to Stellar payment tooling through the Model Context Protocol. - [MCP source & documentation](https://github.com/mertkaradayi/stellar-x402/tree/main/examples/mcp) ## Developer education ### 10+ Stellar workshops Lead instructor · Rise In Delivered virtual workshops on Stellar and Soroban development, helping developers move from the fundamentals to building smart contracts. Stellar’s official developer meeting notes also document my workshop work in Türkiye. - [Stellar developer meeting · Apr 16, 2026](https://developers.stellar.org/meetings/2026/04/16) - [Build on Stellar course](https://www.risein.com/courses/build-on-stellar) ### ODTÜ × Stellar Organizer & instructor · Oct 31, 2025 Co-hosted a hands-on university workshop with Stellar Türkiye and ODTÜ Blockchain, covering Rust, Soroban, and opportunities to build in the ecosystem. - [Event listing & speakers](https://luma.com/g8qcrky7) - [Community announcement](https://x.com/odtublockchain/status/1983217200182784485) ### Build on Stellar · ODTÜ bootcamp Workshop instructor · Rise In Taught an advanced Stellar and Soroban bootcamp at ODTÜ with Rise In, focused on smart contracts and DeFi development. - [Bootcamp announcement](https://x.com/odtublockchain/status/2027093924439818332) ### Stellar Journey to Mastery Instructor · Rise In Supported developers through the Stellar Journey to Mastery program, teaching Stellar development and Soroban smart contracts alongside monthly builder challenges. - [Program & curriculum](https://www.risein.com/programs/stellar-journey-to-mastery-monthly-builder-challenges) ## Community, judging & mentoring ### APAC Stellar Hackathon Judge · All three tracks Evaluated projects across all three tracks, with builders from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The event distributed up to $60,000 in prizes. - [Organizer’s announcement](https://x.com/riseinweb3/status/2083131682333352061) - [Fellow judge’s recap](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/yahyaemirsoyer_stellar-web3-hackathon-activity-7489640668471091200-bN_L) ### Stellar Hack Pera Mentor & workshop instructor Mentored teams and led a workshop at Stellar Hack Pera in Istanbul. The event brought together 200+ participants and produced 70+ projects. - [Rise In’s event recap](https://www.risein.com/blog/stellar-hack-pera-turkeys-largest-irl-web3-hackathon-with-200-participants-70-projects) - [SCF #41 award & team](https://communityfund.stellar.org/submissions/reckl3eLzAYMQuhTA) ### Stellar Full Stack Challenge Instructor & judge Led educational sessions and evaluated the top three winning projects in the Stellar Full Stack Challenge. My role is also documented in Noether’s SCF team profile. - [Challenge page](https://www.patika.dev/bootcamp/odullu-fullstack-challenge) - [SCF #41 award & team](https://communityfund.stellar.org/submissions/reckl3eLzAYMQuhTA) ### Stellar developer meeting Guest presenter · Apr 16, 2026 Presented Noether with my co-founder Yahya and walked through the live testnet product, including its faucet, order book, and trading interface. The demo is recorded in Stellar’s official meeting notes. - [Stellar developer meeting · Apr 16, 2026](https://developers.stellar.org/meetings/2026/04/16) ### Stellar ambassador in Türkiye Ambassador · Aug–Dec 2025 Represented Stellar and supported the local developer community. Connected university builders with the ecosystem through hands-on education and community events. - [Event listing & speakers](https://luma.com/g8qcrky7) - [My published background](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cicekci-mert/) ## Open source — stellar/x402-stellar PR status snapshot: 2026-10-09. - [#6: Corrected the developer setup instructions](https://github.com/stellar/x402-stellar/pull/6) — Merged. Fixed README clone and quick-start instructions, added missing environment examples, and removed an outdated planning file. - [#9: Proposed safer HTML rendering](https://github.com/stellar/x402-stellar/pull/9) — Open. Submitted a change to sanitize HTML responses before DOM insertion to address a potential XSS path. - [#10: Proposed a balance-hook lifecycle fix](https://github.com/stellar/x402-stellar/pull/10) — Open. Submitted a fix to prevent stale state updates in useStellarBalance after a component unmounts. - [#8: Expanded repository ignore rules](https://github.com/stellar/x402-stellar/pull/8) — Open. Submitted common operating-system, editor, and tooling patterns for .gitignore. ## Short introduction Merth · Stellar builder & educator. Previously co-founded Noether (SCF #41). Built x402 tooling, taught 10+ workshops, and judged Stellar hackathons. My work: https://www.merth.xyz/stellar Full page: https://www.merth.xyz/stellar