Join the Bitcoin Meets Solidity Hackathon, Compete for $17,000 in Prizes!

Are you a developer, startup, or entrepreneur with a passion for crypto?

If your answer is yes, this one’s for you!

Rootstock is proud to announce its latest hackathon on TAIKAI — and this summer’s theme is Bitcoin meets Solidity.

The ecosystem and its community are encouraging talented teams with bright ideas to explore and build on the Rootstock network — pushing the boundaries of what's possible on the Bitcoin blockchain.

As you may know, Rootstock is a smart contract platform secured by the Bitcoin network that's fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine. This opens the door to Solidity-based decentralized applications that leverage Bitcoin's unparalleled security.

Whether you've been coding in Solidity for years or are brand new to the space, this hackathon is all about creativity, collaboration, and innovation.

Dedicated tracks have been established to cover everyday DeFi applications, tokenized real-world assets, and infrastructure and cross-chain interoperability. No matter what you're interested in, there's a home for you in the Rootstock ecosystem.

Here are some Important Details for the Hackathon

When's it taking place?

The hackathon commences virtually on May 15th, and competitors have until June 7 to submit their projects.

How big can my team be?

Our hackathon welcomes ambitious developers who are looking to fly solo — or teams with a maximum of five members.

What are the rules?

Getting involved in the Rootstock hackathon is pretty straightforward.

• First off, your project should have been entirely developed during the hackathon — and offer something new or innovative. Ideas or code copied from elsewhere will be disqualified.

• Submissions need to include the project's source code, a brief summary of what it aims to achieve, and any instructions for the judging panel to follow. Don't forget to provide a Rootstock wallet address in case you win a prize!

• It's also important to stress that this hackathon is separate from the Rootstock Grants Program, but winners have a chance to be fast-tracked for an application.

What needs to be delivered?

By the end of the hackathon, you should have a smart contract deployed on Rootstock — as well as two on-chain transactions successfully executed in a testnet environment.

Each project also needs to provide a GitHub repository with a descriptive README.

A pitch video's also required where you demonstrate your product in action, and show off its key features. This is a great way to stand out from the competition!

We've set up a dedicated submission form for all of these deliverables.

How will submissions be judged?

For the best chance of success, it's worth paying close attention to the judging criteria for this hackathon.

The judging panel will be looking for original apps with never-before-seen utility — or an exciting new approach to an existing problem.

Points are awarded for usable, well-designed apps that are intuitive and functional.

Judges will be asking whether the end product is practical, meet a need in the marketplace, and would be eligible for a Rootstock grant.

And they'll be reflecting on the amount of effort put in by the applicants. We want to see applicants who stretch themselves and push the boundaries of what's possible.

What's the scoring criteria?

Here's a breakdown of how each of these requirements will be weighted:

What are the prizes up for grabs?

The total prize pool for this Rootstock hackathon is a cool $17,000.

The project in first place will win $7,000 — with $4,000 for second, and $1,000 for third.

A further $5,000 has been set aside for bounties.

Remind me of the dates again?

The hackathon is open from May 15 to June 7 — and winners will be paid between June 10 and 15.

A fantastic opportunity

Past Rootstock hackathons have been a resounding success — and winning teams have gone on to achieve amazing things.

This is a chance to show off your coding skills to the world, meet like-minded developers, and become part of a vibrant community.

If all of this wasn't enough, Rootstock is a great blockchain to build on. More than 140 dApps have already been built on this Layer 2 network, which offers considerably lower fees than both Bitcoin and Ethereum.

So… what are you waiting for? It's time to start building better on Bitcoin!

Register to the Bitcoin Meets Solidity hackathon now.

About Rootstock

Rootstock is the first, biggest, and longest-lasting Bitcoin sidechain. It is the only Bitcoin layer 2 that combines the security of Bitcoin's proof-of-work, with Ethereum's smart contract capabilities.

Rootstock is open-source, EVM-compatible, and secured by over 60% of Bitcoin’s hashing power, which makes it a gateway to a vibrant ecosystem of dApps that continues to evolve to become fully trustless.

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