The largest Swiss hackathon takes place in October. The lucky winners will receive $ 100,000 in prize money.
The largest will take place from October 29th to 31st, 2021 Hackathon in Switzerland: the “Swiss Blockchain Hackathon”. The hackathon is supported by the national funding program “NTN Innovation Booster – Blockchain Nation Switzerland”. The consortium partner is the Swiss company Trust Square.
There are also academic partners, for example: the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), the Hoschule Luzern or the Université de Geneve. Blockchain protocols such as Streamr, Vela or Algorand also support the hackathon. Other well-known companies from the Swiss crypto scene are also involved in the project, such as SEBA Bank and Bitcoin Suisse AG. This year, the organizers have decided on a hybrid model, in line with the Corona situation – the hackathon can be attended both face-to-face and online.
Around 500 hackers are expected to take part in the hackathon. Registration starts on September 15th and lasts until October 15th. The participants gather in groups at the beginning and then face certain challenges. To solve this, the teams should use blockchain technology. The participants have a total of 60 hours to complete the task. Each team then presents the results to a jury. There are different categories in which the 500 hackers can compete and try out. At the end, a jury then announces the winners. The winners can look forward to more than 100,000 US dollars in prize money, in the form of tokens, cash or in kind.
Objective: Switzerland wants to expand its pioneering role
But the hackathon is not just about trying out ideas – it is about solving real problems. And so the project continues afterwards, with the aim of allowing start-ups to flourish from the ideas gained. Trust Square co-founder Marc Degen comments on this year’s hackathon:
The Swiss Blockchain Hackathon promotes the use and acceptance of blockchain technology, not least because real-world solutions that can be implemented are hacked within a very short time. This helps Switzerland to expand its pioneering role in the adaptation of new technologies. We are proud of the Swiss Blockchain Hackathon – the last execution was great fun and we are really looking forward to the second round.
Marc Degen, however, has a lot of experience with blockchain projects himself. Among other things, he co-founded the company Modum, which collected money from investors in an ITO and used blockchain technology to develop smart sensors.