The Consensus 2024 conference in Texas was abuzz with activity — and renewed confidence surrounding the crypto industry and its ability to foster financial inclusion.
And there was another exciting development during CoinDesk’s event in Austin: a hackathon hosted by EasyA and sponsored by RootstockLabs.
The three-day contest saw talented developers get together in person to start building on multiple blockchains, with $160,000 in prizes up for grabs. Excitingly, several of the winners chose to roll out their innovative creations on Rootstock, which brings DeFi and EVM-compatible smart contracts to the Bitcoin network.
Got an idea for a project? Apply to the Rootstock Grants Program now!
Tap2Pay – Seamless Payments & Airdrops
Walking away with $25,000 was Tap2Pay, which modernizes contactless payments by allowing them to take place without NFC technology. The project argues this could be transformative in emerging economies where Bitcoin tends to be sent via SMS.
Another use case for this solution is based on ultrasonic waves; revolutionizing the entertainment industry by allowing an artist on stage to airdrop NFTs to their audience. This could be a seismic moment for the adoption of POAPs — Proof of Attendance Protocols — and offer fans a digital memento of their favorite gigs and festivals.
It was exceptionally cool to see Rootstock’s infrastructure play a starring role in Tap2Play’s demo, which unfolded before the Consensus audience in real-time. NFTs were minted and airdropped to the crowd in a matter of seconds, adding the wow factor to their pitch.
Lens – Decentralized Credit Scoring
Other competitors, like Lens, focused their efforts on decentralized credit scoring — and offering an alternative to the “opaque and slow” referencing agencies that currently dominate the market.
Built on Rootstock, this protocol double-encrypts credit scores and reports, meaning consumers regain control of their data. Not only does this technology aim to make ratings more accurate, but it also aspires to boost financial inclusion among underserved populations.
The team from the University of Pennsylvania and Ivey Business School ended up landing a $10,000 prize.
Risky Rodeo – Staking BTC
“Ride the volatility, tame the bull” is the motto of Risky Rodeo, which won $7,000. Rootstock’s EVM compatibility and native Bitcoin access were cited as delivering “the perfect permissionless setup” for the product, which allows BTC holders to earn additional rewards through staking.
A key goal of this project was to address “significant challenges” facing the stablecoin market today. They center on a lack of demand, insufficient collateralization and concerns surrounding centralization.
Perpetually – Transferring Inheritance
It was also fascinating to see Rootstock used to tackle one of the most pressing issues facing the crypto market today: making sure that digital assets can be passed on to loved ones in a non-custodial way following their death.
Perpetually is the brainchild of computer science students from the University of Texas. They were driven by a desire to “build where the money’s at” given Bitcoin’s market capitalization, and make the most of Rootstock’s EVM features.
An intuitive demo of their testnet showed how beneficiaries are added through a dedicated dashboard. From here, the conditions of when the Bitcoin would be shared are established, either on a specific date in the future or after a prolonged period of inactivity.
Perpetually’s vision for keeping crypto holdings safe for generations to come, without depending on centralized custodians, saw them secure a $5,000 prize.
Check out the demo video here.
BitBorrow – Decentralized Lending
Last but by no means least, BitBorrow — which offers decentralized lending on Bitcoin through the power of Rootstock — won $3,000.
Their ambition was to blend Bitcoin security and Ethereum’s DeFi capabilities into one easy-to-use package and simplify the lending process for all.
Future goals for the project include integrating social identity verification, implementing credit scoring algorithms, and further optimizing the user experience.
A great way to build
EasyA’s hackathon powerfully shows how easy and intuitive it is to start building on Rootstock, with countless examples of genius dApps that can change lives for the better. We’ve seen even more magic and creativity through the grants program.
As EasyA rightly points out, we’re still only scratching the surface of what Bitcoin can do — and each of these five projects illustrates that the true potential of the world’s biggest blockchain is yet to be unlocked.
Rootstock allows cutting-edge fintech apps that are fit for the 21st century to be built on Bitcoin for the very first time — and with a bustling ecosystem, more and more developers are getting involved to see what the fuss is all about.
Hackathon winners are fast-tracked to the Rootstock Grants Program, so if you’ve got an idea for a cool dApp on Rootstock, jump right in and appply to the Rootstock Grants Program now!