The Bitcoin 2025 Official Hackathon invites developers, designers, and innovators worldwide to push the boundaries of Bitcoin technology. This online event provides a platform for creating groundbreaking solutions that enhance the Bitcoin ecosystem. Whether you're a seasoned blockchain developer or a newcomer with fresh ideas, this hackathon offers an opportunity to showcase your skills, win significant prizes, and contribute to the future of decentralized technology.
Key Event Details
Schedule Overview
- Kickoff: April 7th, 2025
- Submission Deadline: May 20th, 2025, at 8:00 PM ET (11:59 PM UTC)
- Winners Announced: May 29th, 2025, at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference in Las Vegas
Submission Requirements
All projects must be submitted through the official Devpost platform before the deadline. Early submission is highly recommended to avoid last-minute issues. Each entry must include:
- A demo video (3-5 minutes maximum) showcasing your project's functionality.
- A link to a public code repository (e.g., GitHub).
- Optionally, a link to a live preview of your working project.
Prize Categories and Rewards
The hackathon features a main competition with overall winners and several sponsored challenge categories. The total prize pool exceeds $58,750 in cryptocurrency, primarily awarded in Bitcoin.
Main Competition Prizes
- 1st Overall: $12,500 in Bitcoin, a winner trophy, and the title "Winner of B25 Hackathon."
- 2nd Overall: $5,000 in Bitcoin and significant industry recognition.
- 3rd Overall: $2,500 in Bitcoin and community bragging rights.
Sponsored Challenge Tracks
Participants can also opt into specific challenges for additional winning opportunities.
Best Use of exSat
- Prize: $10,000 in Bitcoin, plus an additional $10,000 post-hackathon development grant.
- Goal: This challenge seeks projects that best utilize the exSat platform, which extends Bitcoin's metadata consensus with a hybrid Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanism.
Best Design
- Prize: $1,500 in Bitcoin (1.5 million sats).
- Goal: Awarded to the project with the most exceptional user experience (UX), cleanest user interface (UI), superior accessibility, and innovative design that sets a new standard for applications.
Best Use of Rebar Shield on Alkanes
- Prize: $4,250 in Bitcoin.
- Goal: For the project that most creatively and effectively uses Rebar Shield within the Alkanes ecosystem. Rebar Shield is an RPC service that enables direct Bitcoin transaction submission to mining pools for faster, more private settlements.
Best Use of Rebar Data
- Prize: $4,250 in Bitcoin.
- Goal: This prize rewards the most impactful and technically impressive application of Rebar Data, an enterprise-grade platform offering comprehensive data on Bitcoin and its metaprotocols.
Best Use of BIP300
- Prizes: Two winners; 1st place receives $7,250, and 2nd place receives $4,000 in Bitcoin.
- Goal: Participants are challenged to build innovative projects using the software from LayerTwo Labs, which creates peer-to-peer, merged-mined Bitcoin sidechains.
Additional Recognition Awards
Several other awards will grant winners tickets to future Bitcoin++ events for categories like:
- Most likely to inspire broader Bitcoin adoption through education.
- The project that made the judges smile.
- Best team comprised entirely of high school or undergraduate students.
Project Eligibility and Judging Criteria
The hackathon is open-ended. Any project involving Bitcoin is welcome, from infrastructure and DeFi (Decentralized Finance) to asset issuance platforms and Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization projects. A panel of esteemed judges from the Bitcoin industry will evaluate submissions based on three core criteria:
- Idea Quality: The potential impact, ambition, and scope of the project.
- Execution: The technical achievement, functionality, and effectiveness of the solution.
- General Effect: The presentation, innovation ("swag factor"), and overall applicability to the Bitcoin ecosystem.
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Getting Started and Participation Rules
To ensure a fair and competitive environment, all participants must adhere to the official rules, which are available on the Devpost site. Form your team, brainstorm ideas, and start building. The scope is vast, so focus on solving a real problem or introducing a novel innovation to the space.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Bitcoin 2025 Hackathon?
It is an online competition where developers and creators build projects related to Bitcoin and its expanding ecosystem. It's a chance to innovate, compete for prizes, and gain recognition in the blockchain community.
Who can participate in the hackathon?
The event is open to anyone interested in blockchain development, from individual developers to teams. Some specific award categories, like the student award, have additional eligibility requirements.
Do I have to enter a specific challenge track?
No, entering a sponsored challenge is entirely optional. All projects submitted will automatically be considered for the main overall competition prizes (1st, 2nd, and 3rd place).
What are the key dates I need to remember?
The hackathon begins on April 7th, 2025. All submissions are due by May 20th, 2025, at 8:00 PM ET. Winners will be announced on May 29th, 2025, at the Bitcoin 2025 conference.
What makes a strong project submission?
A strong submission clearly demonstrates a working solution through its video demo and code. It should address a meaningful problem or innovation within the Bitcoin space, have a well-executed design, and be presented effectively.
Where can I find technical details for the sponsored challenges?
Each sponsored challenge, such as those for Rebar Shield or BIP300, provides detailed documentation and submission requirements. Links to these resources are available in their respective sections on the Devpost page.