Itai Elizur is a co-founder of the cryptocurrency newswire service Chainwire and serves as a Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the marketing agencies MarketAcross and InboundJunction.

Education

Elizur attended Reichman University (formerly IDC Herzliya) from 2008 to 2011, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and Media Studies. He later pursued postgraduate studies in the United States, attending The New School in New York City from 2011 to 2013. He graduated with a Master's degree in Media Management. ^{[1] [2] [11]}

Career

Elizur began his career in digital marketing and audience development. His early roles included serving as the Digital Marketing and Audience Development Manager for The Forward, a prominent media organization. He later worked as a Marketing and Growth Consultant for the email signature management company WiseStamp, where he was involved in restructuring user acquisition operations and managing partnerships. From 2013 to 2016, Elizur was the Director of Marketing at Infolinks, Inc., where he led all marketing, brand, and public relations functions. In this capacity, he managed a team responsible for a wide range of digital marketing activities, including search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), and social media marketing. Following his tenure at Infolinks, he took on the role of Creative Manager at the web development platform Wix.com, where he managed creative and content marketing projects within the user acquisition department, which served as a basis for working in the blockchain sector.

In 2016, Elizur co-founded the Tel Aviv-based content marketing agency InboundJunction and its specialized blockchain and Web3-focused marketing and public relations firm, MarketAcross. He serves as Partner and COO of InboundJunction and as Managing Partner and COO of MarketAcross. Through MarketAcross, he has developed and executed marketing and growth strategies for over 300 Web3 brands. In 2021, Elizur co-founded Chainwire, a press release distribution and newswire syndication service designed specifically for the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries. ^{[1] [4] [5] [2] [3] [11]}

Ventures

MarketAcross

MarketAcross was co-founded by Elizur in 2016 and operates as the Web3 marketing and public relations branch of the InboundJunction group. The agency provides comprehensive marketing solutions for blockchain projects, specializing in public relations, SEO, and online reputation management through content marketing. As Managing Partner and COO, Elizur has overseen campaigns for numerous high-profile companies in the cryptocurrency and fintech sectors. The firm's client roster includes Binance, Solana, Polygon, Crypto.com, Polkadot, Tezos, Avalanche, eToro, TRON, Cardano, Huobi, and KuCoin. ^{[6] [7]}

InboundJunction

Co-founded by Elizur in 2016, InboundJunction is a boutique content marketing agency based in Tel Aviv. The firm focuses on assisting startups and technology companies in expanding their online presence. Elizur holds the roles of Partner and COO within the organization, which serves as the parent company to MarketAcross. In a 2020 interview, the InboundJunction group was described as a multifaceted marketing and media entity that included two agencies, various media assets, and a small accelerator fund. ^{[1] [4]}

Chainwire

Elizur co-founded Chainwire in 2021. The platform is a newswire service developed to address the specific needs of the cryptocurrency industry. It allows blockchain companies, exchanges, investment firms, and PR agencies to publish and syndicate press releases across a network of targeted crypto media outlets. The service was created to bridge the gap between projects seeking to disseminate information and the growing number of niche crypto publications. For publishers, it aims to provide access to content, increase readership, and offer new monetization opportunities. ^{[2] [4]}

Investments and Mentorship

Elizur is an active participant in the technology startup ecosystem as an investor, advisor, and mentor. He is an angel investor at BlockBuilders, a Web3 venture builder. His portfolio of investments and advisory roles includes:

• accessiBe: An investor and advisor since 2019 in the web accessibility technology company.
• Dialogue: An investor and advisor since 2020.
• Vee: An investor in the volunteer management platform.
• Lumus Ltd.: An investor in the transparent display technology developer.

Since 2018, Elizur has served as a mentor for the multi-stage venture capital firm and accelerator 500 Startups (now 500 Global), contributing to its Tel Aviv program. He also began serving as a mentor at the Adelson School of Entrepreneurship at his alma mater, Reichman University, in 2020. ^{[1] [2] [8]}

Public Profile and Contributions

Media and Publications

Elizur contributes articles and shares insights on marketing and technology on several business and tech platforms. His work has been featured in publications such as TheNextWeb, AllBusiness, and SmallBizTrends. He is also the credited author of content on the MarketAcross company blog, where he writes about blockchain marketing strategies. ^{[3] [8]}

Public Speaking

As an expert in Web3 marketing, Elizur is a frequent speaker and moderator at international industry conferences. He has spoken at events including the Paris Blockchain Week Summit, Consensus by CoinDesk, Web3 Amsterdam, and at a Web3 marketers' brunch held as a side event at EthCC in Brussels. His talks and panel discussions often focus on topics such as marketing strategies beyond airdrops and the future of the Web3 ecosystem. ^{[6] [7] [9]}

Industry Recognition and Philanthropy

In 2023, Elizur served as a jury member for the GAM3 Awards, an event that recognizes achievements in the Web3 gaming sector. He is also listed as a contributor to Crypto Aid Israel, a charitable initiative that raised funds for individuals affected by war. ^{[10] [3]}

Marketing Philosophy

On Public Relations Strategy

In interviews, Elizur has outlined his approach to public relations for technology startups. He advises founders to focus their media pitches on tangible achievements and existing products rather than future potential. Citing a contact from a major tech publication, he stated, "we only cover news about ‘are, is and doing’ - not ‘want will and can’." He emphasizes the importance of storytelling and demonstrating real-world user adoption to attract media and investor interest. When dealing with negative press or online controversy, his primary advice is to avoid engaging with detractors ("Never feed the trolls") and to proactively change the public narrative by generating a series of new, positive headlines. He also advocates for collaboration over public criticism of competitors, noting that infighting is counterproductive to the growth of the broader ecosystem. ^[4]

On Web3 Gaming

Elizur has commented on the evolution and future of Web3 gaming. He believes the industry has matured to understand that success depends on creating engaging and fun games, rather than relying solely on tokenomics. In a 2023 interview, he stated, "Without real players actually playing, there is no real value of any assets." He views gaming as a natural fit for Web3 technologies, as it allows established player communities to gain ownership and influence the direction of the games they support. He predicts that mass adoption in the space will be driven primarily by established Web2 games integrating Web3 features in an "opt-in" manner, rather than from games built exclusively for Web3 from the ground up. ^[10]

Interviews

Blockchain Marketing and DeFi #01

On September 26, 2020, Itai Elizur, Partner and COO at MarketAcross, participated in an interview with Yonah Hochhauser on the REIMAGINE – Web3 Events and Media channel. In the discussion, Elizur described differences between blockchain marketing and traditional B2B strategies, emphasizing that blockchain projects often lack immediate utility, clear calls to action, or broad public understanding. He noted that marketing in this sector frequently centers on adoption rather than technical details.

Elizur compared the marketing environment of the 2017 ICO period with developments in 2020, observing that while the earlier phase was largely hype-driven, the DeFi market tended to rely on decentralized, community-led promotion through platforms such as Telegram and 4chan. He stated that blockchain and cryptocurrency, while closely related, are not synonymous, as blockchain often operates as infrastructure that supports applications beyond digital currencies.

He also addressed issues of trust and accountability in decentralized projects, referencing the controversy involving SushiSwap’s founder as an example of the difficulties that can arise in systems built on the principle of “trustlessness.” Elizur further remarked that regulatory changes had altered the role of influencers in the sector, shifting their activities from direct endorsements to broader commentary.

Regarding future developments, Elizur suggested that blockchain adoption was more likely to advance through enterprise applications and consumer-focused decentralized applications, while cryptocurrencies at the time primarily served as a store of value. He noted that widespread adoption of DeFi could be influenced by larger economic conditions, such as a financial crisis that might lead to increased movement from fiat into crypto ecosystems. He also mentioned the Web3 Foundation and Polkadot as examples of initiatives with active developer communities and an emphasis on scalability and regulatory considerations. ^[12]