In April 2023, Hedera sponsored HackDW3C, a virtual hackathon organized by the Duke Web3 Conference. The event ran from April 7 to April 23, and it was an open call to tech enthusiasts, startup founders, and digital creatives to showcase their Web3 ideas in hopes of attracting attention from recruiters and investors.
HackDW3C offered over $45,000 in awards, additional corporate challenge prizes, and potential investment funds from sponsoring companies. Beyond these incentives, participants had the chance to secure internship offers and full-time positions, making the hackathon a prime opportunity for career advancement.Hackathons like HackDW3C are crucial in tech and Web3. They foster innovation, teamwork, and competition, helping to shape the future of the industry. Supporting and participating in these events not only helps bring new ideas to life, but also creates opportunities for talented individuals. The winners were announced on May 3, and we are excited to share more about them in this blog post.
By Aziz Abdullaev. Prize: $7,500 USD.
GreenProof is a blockchain-based certification platform designed specifically for verifying the sustainability practices associated with agricultural products. By providing a user-friendly interface, certifying organizations can easily create certifications for agricultural producers, who can then generate unique identifiers for their products. This enables end customers to conveniently scan the product's QR code and gain insights into the sustainability practices employed during its production. The platform encompasses various dimensions of sustainability in agriculture, including equity, land use, water management, pesticide and fertilizer usage, and more. GreenProof recognizes the significance of regenerative agriculture in reducing carbon emissions, as the agricultural sector alone accounts for nearly 30% of global carbon emissions. With its ability to sequester carbon into the soil, regenerative agriculture plays a crucial role in combating climate change. GreenProof empowers private certification entities by equipping them with a blockchain-based certificate issuance tool, thereby establishing a market-driven incentive mechanism for environmentally conscious customers to make informed purchasing decisions.
Hedera was the ledger of choice because of its sustainable nature. It is an open-source, proof-of-stake public ledger governed by prestigious organizations like Google, IBM, London School of Economics, UCL, and many more. Its low-energy network, predictable fees, optimized EVM smart contracts, and user-friendly SDKs make Hedera the perfect blockchain for sustainability-oriented projects. The GreenProof team utilized the Hedera JavaScript SDK to deploy and interact with smart contracts written in Solidity.
The team initially faced a learning curve when diving into the world of Hedera. With previous experience limited to Ethereum, the developers had to familiarize themselves with Hedera's unique philosophy. They began by delving into the documentation of the JavaScript SDK, where they learned essential tasks such as creating accounts, obtaining HBAR tokens, and deploying smart contracts. To supplement their understanding, the team found Hedera's blog posts with sample projects to be extremely valuable resources in the learning journey.
By Nolan Amblard & Brian Goldblatt. Prize: $4,000 USD.
Unlimited is a fast and decentralized order book and matching engine built on Hedera. Centralized exchanges (CEXs) offer a great user experience but don't provide the same security and self-custody that decentralized exchanges (DEXs) do. DEXs, on the other hand, are often operated using automated market makers (AMMs), which are prone to issues such as frontrunning and high slippage. Although AMMs are powerful tools that leverage DeFi’s capabilities, they lack transparency for end users. Unlimited was created to offer traders a product that is the best of both worlds, allowing for a familiar feel to traditional CEXs while promoting the decentralized nature and transparency of DeFi.
Although Unlimited is built to function on any EVM-compatible chain, it is best suited to Hedera due to the low, fixed transaction costs and increased speed. The lower price is what allows Unlimited to be a trading solution for all market participants, not just those who can afford GMX’s (or other exchanges’) exorbitant gas fees. Hedera’s technology also enables Unlimited to be one of the first environmentally sustainable and low carbon-emission DeFi protocols.
According to the team, "Building on Hedera was straightforward and painless to learn. Hedera’s EVM compatibility cut the time spent learning and there are great starter tutorials that Hedera engineers have put out to assist in deployment. This experience immersed us in the blockchain ecosystem in a frictionless manner that other blockchains are lacking which, along with other factors that made this experience great, has pushed us to begin working on our next Hedera-based project."
By Joel Pallares. Prize: $2,500 USD.
CryptoLotto is a decentralized lottery and raffle platform that leverages the power of the Hedera network. It addresses two significant problems in the industry: Preventing scams and providing a guarantee that participants will receive their prizes. CryptoLotto uses Hedera to help ensure transparency, security, and trust in the lottery and raffle processes. With the decentralized nature of the platform, scams and fraudulent activities are minimized, fostering a fair and reliable environment for users to participate in games of chance.
Hedera is an ideal fit for CryptoLotto due to its low transaction fees and fast transaction speeds. The small fees enable seamless and cost-effective participation for users, making it accessible to a wide range of individuals. Additionally, the fast transaction speeds provided by Hedera allow lottery entries to be processed quickly, ensuring a smooth and efficient user experience. These qualities make Hedera an optimal solution for CryptoLotto to deliver a secure and efficient platform to users.
In Joel’s words: "Building on Hedera Hashgraph has been a valuable learning experience for the CryptoLotto team. The utilization of Hedera's API has proven to be highly beneficial for the project, allowing for seamless integration of the lottery and raffle functionalities. As a developer, I have gained knowledge and expertise in working with blockchain SDKs. This experience has not only empowered me to create a reliable lottery and raffle platform but has also expanded capabilities in utilizing cutting-edge technologies for future endeavors."
Three teams stood out with innovative Web3 solutions in the virtual HackDW3C hackathon sponsored by Hedera.
GreenProof created a blockchain platform for verifying the sustainability of agricultural products, citing Hedera's low energy consumption and predictable fees as key to their project.
Unlimited built a decentralized order book and matching engine, merging the best of centralized and decentralized exchanges, with Hedera's low transaction costs and high speed being pivotal for their solution.
CryptoLotto introduced a decentralized lottery and raffle platform to minimize scams and ensure prize delivery, utilizing Hedera's low fees and high transaction speed.
The use cases of these winning teams highlight the transformative potential of Web3 and demonstrate the versatility of Hedera as a platform for innovative blockchain-based solutions. Now it's your turn to build on Hedera!
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