Block.one Launches EOS Global Hackathon Series With Hong Kong Event at Kai Tak

• Top prize awarded to IDPASS, a project to give validated ID to global citizens with no formal documentation of their identity
• Winning teams took home US$144,000 in prizes awarded by EOS VC
• City’s first blockchain hackathon sees 90 teams and more than 350 entrants from 17 countries compete to build scalable blockchain DAPPs
• Social impact prize awarded to Smart City Steroids, a project to create transparency and accountability in public tender systems in “smart cities” in India

Hong Kong, June 10, 2018 — Block.one, publisher of the ground-breaking EOSIO blockchain protocol, kicked off the EOS Global Hackathon series in Hong Kong this weekend, with its EOS VC business unit awarding US$144,000 in prizes today to winners at the iconic Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Victoria Harbour.

The Hong Kong event is the first in a series of four hackathons taking place around the world this year under the theme decentralize everything, with a total of US$1.5 million in prizes to be awarded by EOS VC.

Each hackathon event features a unique challenge for developers building on EOSIO. The top three prize winners from each of the four hackathons will compete in a Grand Finale Pitch Competition event in December.

The Hong Kong Challenge: “Decentralized Applications (DAPPs) for Scale”

Identify a centralized business model and create a decentralized alternative that is built for large-scale mainstream adoption

Competing teams at the hackathon were tasked with attempting to “hack” the challenge, with the goal of designing DAPPs with real-world utility using EOSIO code.

A panel of international judges, including global technology and blockchain leaders, selected the winners from a pool of over 350 participants and more than 90 teams following 30 consecutive hours of programming:

Top prizes

• First Prize, US$100,000 — IDPASS (France / United States / Belarus)
• Second Prize, US$25,000 — Blockflare (Singapore / Hong Kong)
• Third Prize, US$10,000 — Ducatur (Russia / Europe)

Secondary prizes

• Best Social Impact, US$3,000 — Smart City Steroids
• Best User Experience, US$3,000 — WarrantEase
• Best Social Media Post, US$3,000 — Shabaz Ahmed

“We believe blockchain will redefine the Internet and society through decentralization,” said Block.one CFO Andrew Bliss. “EOSIO will ease the path to adoption of blockchain technology by creating a system that makes doing business more safe, secure and transparent. As we saw this weekend, the potential to change existing centralized models of commerce and communication is exponential.”

The First Prize winning team, IDPASS, aims to offer one billion-plus global citizens with no formal identification documents a way to build a trusted ID over time that is private, recoverable and fully under their control.

Paul Wehner, a member of the IDPASS team, said: “We’re incredibly thrilled to be a part of the EOSIO global developer community. Our aim is to keep building IDPASS as an open-source project and to collaborate with humanitarian agencies to bring healthcare, educational, financial and legal services to the undocumented.”

Commenting from Block.one’s office in Blacksburg, Virginia, company CTO Dan Larimer, said: “I’m incredibly excited that we have so many brilliant developers actively building on the EOSIO platform. The community has been quick to recognize that EOSIO is the most robust, secure and scalable blockchain protocol. The developers at this weekend’s event are the blockchain pioneers of tomorrow.”

The team behind Blockflare, which took second prize, described their project as a “crowd-sourced, decentralized anti-DDoS platform that guarantees DDoS mitigation through a novel protocol based off of proof-of-work and Tor routing.”

Ducatur, a project to build the first decentralized exchange that supports both EOS and Ether, and with the speed of Binance, took third prize.

The Social Impact prize was awarded to Smart City Steroids, a project to create transparency and accountability in public tender systems in “smart cities” in India. Smart City Steroids will also attend the Grand Finale event.

Hackathon judge Larry Sanger, who is also the CIO of Everipedia and the Co-Founder of Wikipedia, said: “With this event, Hong Kong is showing why it’s quickly becoming a regional hub for new technology, particularly blockchain. As an entrepreneur, I’ve seen how communities can deliver impact and help develop open-source projects for the greater good. The talent here is undeniable and the results of the hackathon show that the EOS community is one of strongest in the tech world.”

“As a global meeting-place of ideas and innovation, Hong Kong is an ideal location to launch the EOS Global Hackathon series, which showcases some of the best talent in blockchain. This weekend we’ve seen teams push the boundaries and explore blockchain’s transformational potential. EOS VC is proud to help be a catalyst of growth for the EOSIO platform,” said Brian Mehler of EOS VC.

List of judges

Andrew Bliss — Block.one, Chief Financial Officer

Larry Sanger — Everipedia, Chief Information Officer; Wikipedia, Co-Founder

Eric Khun — T-Mobile, Head of Communications, Home and Entertainment

Theodor Forselius — Everipedia, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Sam Kazemian — Everipedia, Co-Founder and President

Dr. Jane Thomason — Blockchain Quantum Impact, CEO; Abt Associates Australia, Senior Advisor

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Originally published at block.one on June 10, 2018.