Hey Everyone 👋
Without a doubt, Layer 2 technologies (L2s) are scaling Ethereum. L2s offload processing and computation from Ethereum and have quickly become our great hope for ultimately onboarding the masses onto Ethereum. If you’re interested in L2s, dive in to hear about Superhack 2024, our latest online hackathon focused on the Superchain ecosystem.
If you’ve never heard about the Superchain, here is a quick primer:
The Superchain is a set of L2s which share a common tech stack, values, and governance. Superchain L2s are built on the OP Stack, the open-source and public good modular software stack which makes it easy to fork, change, or launch your own L2 or Appchain.
We hosted Superhack 2024 in collaboration with some of the pioneers and leaders of the ecosystem:
-
🔴 Optimism builds open-source software for running L2 blockchains such as the OP Mainnet
-
🔵 Base is a builder-friendly L2 incubated by Coinbase, built to onboard the next billion users
-
🪩 Worldcoin is building World Chain, their OP Stack L2, and the ‘Blockchain for Humans’
-
We were also joined by nearly a dozen other key projects helping move the Superchain forward, including Mode, Metal L2, Celo, and Fraxtal.
🌎 A Global Gathering of Talent
Superhack 2024 has officially concluded, and we were astounded by the creativity, innovation, and determination of 996 developers from 82 countries who joined us in this virtual event. With 291 incredible project submissions and over $200,000 in prizes up for grabs, this hackathon truly showcased the cutting-edge of what’s possible with the Superchain.
✂️ The tl;dr of Superhack 2024
-
🙋♂️ Hackers: 996
-
🌍 Countries Represented: 82
-
⏰ Timezones: 24
-
🚀 Projects Submitted: 291
-
🏆 Finalists: 8
-
💸 Prizes: $200,000+
📈 Major Themes of Superhack 2024
Several key themes emerged from the Superhack 2024 project submissions, underscoring the vast opportunities within the Superchain ecosystem:
-
Gasless Transactions and Account Abstraction: Many projects focused on creating seamless user experiences by leveraging gasless transactions and advanced account abstraction techniques.
-
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and Payments: DeFi remains a critical use case, with cool solutions that bridge the gap between traditional finance use cases and DeFi
-
Onchain Gaming and Social Applications: Gaming and social applications are making waves, offering users new ways to interact
-
Data Ownership and Privacy: Privacy-focused solutions were also a significant trend showing the importance of user data security
We will dive into these themes as we review the finalists below!
🚀 Superhack 2024 Kick-off & Summit Chats
Superhack 2024 kickoff was streamed live on ethglobal.tv, where Kartik Talwar from ETHGlobal set the stage for two weeks of intense building.
The kickoff was followed by the Hacker Summit, where industry leaders provided insights and tools for hackers to excel. Here’s a snapshot of some of the talks:
-
🎤 Why Hackathons Matter with Mattie Fairchild
-
🎤 From Hackathon to Exit with Dawson Botsford
-
🎤 Validating Ideas & Building Product with Linda Xie & Kartik Talwar
-
🎤 Non-Technical Contributions with Shannon Wells
-
🎤 How to Make Your Project Shine with Yitong Zhang
-
🎤 How to Start Hacking with Jacob Willemsma
🤓 Week 1: Workshops, Team Formation, and more
The first week of Superhack was all about setting the foundation. Hackers formed teams, brainstormed ideas, and attended workshops hosted by Superchain leaders. These sessions provided the essential tools and knowledge to get started, from understanding the OP Stack to leveraging best practices in L2 development. The week ended with the Superchain Chats Summit.
-
🎤 Superchain Interoperability with Zain Bacchus
-
🎤 Why the Superchain is the Best Home for Builders with Jonas Seiferth and Jacob Willemsma
-
🎤 Fault Proof Systems with Luca Donno
-
🎤 Why the Superchain is the Best Home for Chains with Ian Dilick and Sophia Dew
You can view them all here:
🛠 ️️️️️️Week 2: All About Building
The second week was dedicated to building. With access to 24/7 mentorship, hackers refined their projects and prepared for the final submission on Sunday, August 11th! ⏳
🎉 Superhack 2024 Finale
After two weeks of hard work, 291 projects were submitted, filled with innovative ideas and solutions. The judging process was intense, with industry leaders carefully evaluating each submission. Eight standout finalists were selected to demo their projects live.
Check out the Superhack 2024 finale, where the top 8 finalists demo their projects live:
🏆 The Finalists
Eight exceptional projects were chosen as finalists for Superhack 2024:
🐣 Tamayoshi: A Tamagotchi-like gasless onchain mobile game, demonstrating the power of account abstraction and seamless user experiences.
🏛️ ChooseADelegate: A Farcaster Frame that helps users choose active delegates for voting in DAO proposals, leveraging the social graph.
🤖 Century Pay: A Discord bot that allows users to pay through Discord, integrating seamlessly with Web3 wallets.
📂 EthDrive: A decentralized asset management solution akin to Google Drive, allowing users to organize, trade, and connect to dApps.
🤗 QuickPay: A payment solution enabling USDC holders on Base to make payments at physical merchants in Mongolia using the existing QPay system.
💋 Kiss or Slap: An onchain reputation-based game for Farcaster, where users earn tokens and build reputation through strategic play.
🖼️ HomeBase: A platform that allows users to discover and interact with their favorite onchain apps all in one place.
✏️ Draw Dash: An onchain AI art game where users receive prompts to generate AI images and sketch their versions within 60 seconds.
🚀 Finalists and Superhack Themes
Each finalist touched on one of the major themes mentioned earlier.
Tamayoshi used gasless transactions and account abstraction to offer a seamless onchain gaming experience. HomeBase created a hub for interacting with onchain apps, reflecting the need for better Web3 indexing UX.
ChooseADelegate and Kiss or Slap both built social apps, with ChooseADelegate enhancing DAO participation through social graph integrations, and Kiss or Slap building a reputation-based game on Farcaster. Draw Dash combined onchain gaming with AI art, pushing the boundaries of creative expression in the Web3 space.
Century Pay and QuickPay focused on DeFi and payments, with Century Pay enabling Discord-based transactions and QuickPay bridging the gap between onchain assets and real-world payments in Mongolia 🇲🇳.
EthDrive addressed data ownership and privacy, providing a decentralized, secure solution for managing digital assets, similar to Google Drive.
🎉 Celebrating the Superhack Community
A massive thank you to our incredible partners — Optimism, Base, Worldcoin, and many others — who made Superhack 2024 possible. These leaders are shaping the future of L2 scaling and Ethereum, and we’re thrilled to see the impact of the projects built during this hackathon.
We’re also incredibly proud of all the hackers who participated. Your passion, creativity, and hard work are what drive the Web3 ecosystem forward. We can’t wait to see how these projects evolve and contribute to the broader Superchain ecosystem.
⏭️ Up Next: ETHOnline 2024
We’re already gearing up for our next events, where you can continue to build, learn, and connect with the Web3 community. Keep an eye out for our upcoming hackathons and summits, and don’t miss out!
💻 ETHOnline 2024 (Async | August 23 — September 13, 2024)
🎙️ Pragma Singapore (In-Person | September 19, 2024)
🇸🇬 ETHGlobal Singapore (In-Person | September 20 — 22, 2024)
🎙️ Pragma San Francisco (In-Person | October 16 — 17, 2024)
🌁 ETHGlobal San Francisco (In-Person | October 18 — 20, 2024)
🇹🇭 ETHGlobal Bangkok (In-Person | November 15 — 17, 2024)
See you soon, the ETHGlobal Team 💙