Hey everyone 👋

ETHGlobal San Francisco (October 18–20, 2024) has come to an end, marking our exciting return to San Francisco — and what an incredible event it was! The event brought together more than 1,075 attendees, uniting a global mix of builders to foster innovation and push the boundaries of Web3 🚀

Weekend recap here:

San Francisco’s event drew over 750 hackers from 44 countries, with a notable 41% of participants were new to Web3. Together, they submitted 223 unique projects, all competing for a share of the $400,000+ prize pool! Here’s a quick look at the weekend:

✂️ The tl;dr of ETHGlobal San Francisco 2024:

• 📣 Total attendees: 1,075+

• 🙋‍♂️ Hackers: 750

• 🌎 Countries Represented: 44

• 🚀 Projects Submitted: 223

• 🏆 Finalists: 10

• 💸 Prizes: $400,000+

🎙 Pragma San Francisco & Happy Hour

The weekend began with Pragma San Francisco, our two-day flagship conference that brought together thought leaders, builders, and enthusiasts from across the Ethereum ecosystem. Held on October 16–17, Pragma offered talks, panels, and networking opportunities with industry leaders like Markus Haas, Nikhil Chandhok, Dieter Shirley, and many more.

After Pragma, we hosted a lively Happy Hour for community members to relax, connect, and gear up for the hackathon.

We will upload all the talks to YouTube in the next couple of weeks! Remember to check out the ETHGlobal YouTube channel for updates :)

⚒️ ETHGlobal San Francisco 2024 Kick-off & Summit

On October 18, we officially kicked off ETHGlobal San Francisco at the iconic Palace of Fine Arts, welcoming hackers with an electric atmosphere. Attendees checked in, grabbed some snacks, made some friends, and dove straight into the hackathon.

We started with workshops led by industry experts to help hackers refine their skills in preparation for the 36-hour hackathon. Some highlights included:

• 🎤 Austin Griffith on Building your first five apps on Ethereum

• 🎤 Laurent Castillo on Clear signing for your dApp with Ledger

• 🎤 Matthew Krak on The ABCs of Cross-Chain Messaging with LayerZero

• 🎤 Fabri Guespe on Messaging Mini apps (Bot, Agents & Frames) with XMTP

• 🎤 Nemil Dalal, Lincoln Murr, Dan Kim on 5 Tips for Winning ETHGlobal with AI and CDP

You can find all the workshops on the ETHGlobal YouTube channel!

That evening, ETHGlobal San Francisco hacking officially began, with the event streamed live on ethglobal.tv.

Check out the opening ceremonies here:

💻 Hackathon Weekend

The hacking officially began at 9pm Pacific Time (PT), and for the next 36 hours, builders from all around the world worked tirelessly to bring their ideas to life, each vying for a piece of the $400,000 prize pool.

Hackers from all backgrounds and skill levels formed teams to tackle unique challenges. The hackathon was filled with non-stop activities to support builders through the late hours, including midnight snacks, food trucks, mobility workshops, and 24/7 drinks to keep energy levels high.

Here are some pictures from the ETHGlobal San Francisco photo album that tell the story of the incredible weekend:

🎉 ETHGlobal San Francisco 2024 Finale

After an intense 36 hours of hacking, teams submitted their projects, which were reviewed by a panel of expert judges. The excitement reached its peak as the top 10 of 223 submissions, each getting the chance to showcase their work live on stage.

Check out the ETHGlobal San Francisco finalists and partner prize winners during our closing ceremonies:

🏆 The Finalists

Here are the 10 finalists that were chosen among the 223 projects submitted:

• 💪 PumpRoyale: Fitness meets finance with PumpRoyale, allowing users to stake USDC in fitness challenges, complete activities, and win rewards from a losers’ pool.

• 📺 VVLDrizzy: This platform lets creators mint, watermark, and license viral videos while earning revenue, making it easy for media outlets to license verified content.

• ♾ IP Infinity: IP Infinity transforms NFTs into interactive game objects, integrating them into a procedurally generated world via Unreal Engine and AI-driven categorization.

• 🎙️ OmiSwap: OmiSwap enables voice-activated blockchain transactions through an AI wearable, supporting cross-chain transfers and gasless USDC sends.

• 🫐 HelloACAI: A platform for on-chain collaborative AI, enabling specialized agents to work together under smart contracts for efficient task execution.

• 🚁 DAOsaster: A decentralized disaster response system using AI agents, drones, and blockchain for autonomous detection and coordination.

• ©️ Chain Waves: Chain Waves allows users to watermark and secure audio files on the blockchain, ensuring proof of ownership and royalty tracking.

• 🧱 BuildBlocks: Provides a drag-and-drop interface for creating, compiling, and deploying audited smart contracts, making Web3 development more accessible.

• 🤗 UniV4Backtester: An institutional-grade UniV4 backtester that replays UniV3 events, enabling users to see hypothetical outcomes.

• 🤑 Betsy: A Web3 betting platform on Skale with XMTP messaging, AI-driven outcomes, and secure USDC handling for trustless group bets.

💡 ETHGlobal San Francisco 2024

Throughout the weekend, a few themes emerged among the projects:

• Interactivity & Gamification: Projects like PumpRoyale and Betsy brought a fun, engaging layer to DeFi by enabling users to interact and win in new ways

• AI & Automation: With solutions like OmiSwap and DAOsaster, we saw the emergence of more and more crypto x AI use cases

• Ownership & Content Security: VVLDrizzy and Chain Waves demonstrated innovative approaches to content ownership, helping creators secure and monetize their work on-chain

• User Accessibility: BuildBlocks and HelloACAI focused on simplifying blockchain technology, making it easier for everyone to get involved in Web3

Celebrating the ETHGlobal Community 🎊

A huge thank you to our partners, mentors, volunteers, and hackers for making ETHGlobal San Francisco 2024 such an epic success. We couldn’t have done it without you.

See you soon for our final hackathon of 2024 in Bangkok, Nov 15–17! 🇹🇭🌴

The ETHGlobal Team 💙