Helpful Info for the Upcoming Arweave Hackathon - Developer DAO Twitter Spaces Recap
Developer DAO just hosted an informative Twitter Space to discuss the details of their upcoming Arweave hackathon. The Developer DAO's specific prize of $2,000 USD was a focal point of the conversation, along with the larger Arweave ecosystem and its numerous opportunities for developers. The hackathon prizes initially announced as $25,000 were suddenly increased by three last-minute bounties courtesy of Community Labs, resulting in a total prize pot of approximately $34,500.
The Space's Overview
The Space was hosted by Developer DAO, with an impressive line-up of speakers. This included Luke from Bundlr, pbillingsby, (Wise) Ty, a former Algovera AI member and contributor at Developer DAO, Papi Billy, the Community Manager and Hackathon Lead at Developer Dao, and Only Arweave. Each speaker shared their insights and expertise, contributing to a broad understanding of the hackathon's scope and potential.
Key Takeaways
The Twitter Space provided several key takeaways for the hackathon:
Open Hours: There will be periods when participants can freely interact with the teams offering the bounties.
Workshops: Workshops will take place throughout the hackathon, providing practical experience for participants. Community Labs, for instance, may host a workshop about ArConnect, allowing members to "learn by doing."
Bundlr Workshop: Luke from Bundlr disclosed that they will host a workshop in Gather Town. During the hackathon, Bundlr will also whitelist wallets to upload 1GB to Arweave for free.
Excitement Around UDL: The hackathon has generated a lot of excitement around the Universal Data License (UDL). UDL has opened up a plethora of opportunities for artists and has been described as "fertile ground" by Only Arweave.
Last-minute Bounties: Community Labs increased the excitement by adding three last-minute bounties of $3,000 each. These bounties are associated with various Community Labs SDKs and products. Details of these will be announced soon.
Developer DAO's Exclusive Prize: The Developer DAO's exclusive prize of $2,000 is another unique aspect of the hackathon. The three top projects by Developer DAO members will be awarded $1,000, $750, and $250, respectively. In addition to this, there will be a community prize of $3,000 governed by community voting during the hackathon's DEMO day on August 10th.
Multiple Bounties: Participants are not restricted to one bounty. It's possible to apply one project to multiple bounties if it meets the criteria for each, and those projects are eligible to stack and win all the associated bounties.
Kwil Bounty: Brennan Lamey from Kwil hinted at a new feature for the Kwil databases that will be unveiled on July 27th - their bounty might revolve around this.
Openness to Novel Ideas: If a participant doesn't have a project relevant to a specific bounty, they can still submit their unique ideas. Forward Research has made it clear that they are open to out-of-the-box ideas with up to $100,000 available for such projects.
Engagement with Partners and Sponsors: Participants are encouraged to interact with the partners and sponsors throughout the hackathon to receive real-time feedback.
What Projects Should You Build?
An interesting question arose during the conversation from a developer named Manny, who asked what projects should people avoid building - ones that have been overdone at this point.
The response highlighted the subjective nature of the hackathon. The sponsoring partners will be assessing all projects, and their evaluations are ultimately based on their personal perspectives and industry knowledge. That being said, it was mentioned that potential participants can gain a better understanding of what to build by reviewing the bounties provided by each project offering one.
To further increase their chances of success, participants are encouraged to engage actively and ask questions along the way, speaking with the partners and sponsors to gain real-time feedback.
However, a word of caution was shared concerning the surplus of archiving applications already available in the market. A truly innovative or compelling angle for such an app is acceptable, but it may be beneficial and to the advantage of participants to explore other avenues and use cases too. The speakers emphasized the vast potential and versatility of Arweave beyond just data archiving and storage. With its lazy evaluation for smart contracts, Arweave can handle any task a traditional blockchain can, without transactional stress. Participants are encouraged to be active on the Arweave Discord channel and to ask questions to help steer them in the right direction.
The key message was clear though, "Don't limit yourself."
Those interested in the hackathon can apply here to receive further instructions from Ty and gain access to additional resources.
