ETHGlobal Brussels, held from July 12-14, brought together over 1,100 hackers from 72 countries, with 355 projects and 10 finalists emerging from the hackathon. In a unique first, Arx was excited to partner with ETHGlobal to include an embedded HaLo secure chip in every official ETHGlobal Brussels wristband.
While NFC chips have been included in previous ETHGlobal event wristbands, this marks the first time an immutable, permissionless NFC chip that also functions as a smart wallet was given out to attendees. ETHGlobal used the wristbands to bring various event interactions onchain white at the same time creating a novel opportunity for hackers to leverage HaLo signing capabilities in their projects.
Want to learn more about how our HaLo secure chips work?
See our blog post to learn why HaLos are distinct from off the shelf NFC
Attendees used their HaLo-chipped NFC wristbands to connect with each other in a permissionless manner, creating verifiable onchain records of each interaction. HaLo chips improve upon standard NFC technology by using asymmetric cryptography, opening up the possibility for decentralized authentication. Over 2,500 connections were tracked on the leaderboard, with the top connector winning 0.1 ETH.
The wristbands also enabled attendees to check into workshops and track other interactions throughout the event seamlessly.
Thanks to ETHGlobal’s support, we’re pleased to share that HaLo-chipped wristbands will be distributed at all remaining 2024 in-person hackathon.
Can’t make the next ETHGlobal hackathon, or want a head-start to get familar with the tech?
We’re offering free HaLo dev kits via our #HackWithHaLo program. Apply for your free dev kit today.
BananaBets built a platform that enabled attendees to forecast winners based on showcase data, placing bets, and signing transactions directly through their wristbands. This marks the second ETHGlobal event, following ETHIstanbul, where teams using HaLo chips in their projects have clinched finalist spots.
We look forward to seeing many more winning teams at future ETHGlobal events leveraging HaLo chips in their hackathon projects!
🌐 Learn more about HaLos and start building at arx.org.
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