#PoweringPossibility Online Hackathon Kicks Off January 9th

Celebrate and Take Part in the Launch of Symbol from NEM!

With Symbol from NEM going live on January 14th, 2021 as part of #SymbolLaunchFest, NEM is excited to announce the launch of the #PoweringPossibility Hackathon, a 3-week online event kicking off on January 9th that offers developers and designers an opportunity to create innovative applications powered by the groundbreaking blockchain technology from Symbol. 

Prizes up for grabs range from the possibility of creating a viable project through the NEM Ignite Incubator Program, with hands-on mentorship, commercialization guidance and financial support of up to $10.000, to thousands of dollars worth of XEM!

The world’s leading mining expert and NEM’s Chief Technology Officer, Kristy-Leigh Minehan, will be leading the Hackathon, with support from many key figures in the NEM ecosystem and broader blockchain space. 

#PoweringPossibility Hackathon Schedule

December 21st - Hackathon announced and applications open

January 9 - 10th - Hackathon kicks off

January 31st  - Hackathon ends

February 1st - Judging period begins

February 8th - Judging period ends

February 10th - Hackathon winners announced and prizes awarded!

Hackathon Tracks

The hackathon will focus on creating solutions using the Symbol functionalities to solve real world problems. This will be divided into four tracks:

Hybrid - A submission that utilizes both a public and private chain on Symbol. 

Interoperability - A submission that utilizes both Symbol as well as another blockchain protocol. 

Libraries & Plugins - A submission that extends the functionality of Symbol through the plugin system. 

Design - A submission that improves upon the user experience, UX or UI of a given product.

Submission Requirements

Submissions must build (or update) an open-source software application or integration that leverages Symbol features. To qualify for prizes, participants must abide by all of the rules and the following minimum submission requirements:

1. Any submission must be released under the Apache V2 license.

2. Any submission must have clear, cleanly documented code in plain English.

3. Any submission must have an additional video or document explaining the rationale and use case behind the submission, as well as a working demonstration.

4. Any submission must be running on the Symbol main-net.

5. Any submission must be in a GitHub or GitLab repository - we will not accept closed binaries or packages sent through email.

Judging criteria

The judges will take into account the four following criteria when making their decision:

1. Performance

2. Real-world usefulness

3. Documentation & Quality

4. Design

Eligibility

Individuals – and teams of individuals – must all have reached the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence at the time of entry. Note: NEM Group and its affiliates are not eligible for participation.

Hackathon prizes

1st Place prize⭐

Offers the possibility of creating a viable project through the NEM Ignite Incubator program, with investment of up to $10.000.

2nd Place prize⭐

$7,000.00 in XEM for the selected project.

3rd Place prize⭐

$5,000.00 in XEM for the selected project.

Judges

• Kristy Leigh Minehan, CTO of NEM Software
• Sharon Rubin, Associate Director of NEM Ventures
• Mike Sotirakos, Managing Director of NEM Software
• Antony Welfare, Chief Commercial Officer of NEM Software

Mentors

• Kailin O'Donnell, Director of NEM Ventures
• Jeff McDonald, Brand Ambassador of NEM Group
• Rene Bernard, CEO & CO-Founder of LuxTag
• Ferran Prat, CEO & CO-Founder of Peersyst
• Bader Youssef, CTO of IOdLT
• Vytautas Kašėta, Co-Founder & CTO of Superhow?
• Kazuya Okada, CEO of Opening Line
• Nicholas Pelecanos, Head of Trading at NEM
• Laura Cooley, Senior Consultant at Wachsman

How to Take Part

To apply to take part in the #PoweringPossibility Online Hackathon, visit: https://powering-possibility-hackathon.devpost.com/

About Symbol by NEM

Symbol is NEM’s next generation enterprise blockchain platform, a culmination of 4+ years of heads down building, testing and collaborating by the NEM Core Developers, community and supporting entities. With major upgrades in flexibility, security, speed and ease of use, the Symbol platform is the best-in-class blockchain enterprise solution. 

Symbol was purpose-built to help businesses cut costs, reduce complexities, and streamline innovation. Utilizing a unique hybrid (public/private) architecture, Symbol enables businesses to benefit from the beloved transparency associated with public blockchains, while also enabling data restrictions and encryption measures to be put in place to secure more confidential information.

Stay in Touch!

Powering Possibility Hackathon website

Symbol website

NEM website

NEM GitHub

Follow NEM on Twitter