ETHMiami, a city-specific conference and hackathon, recently concluded its second annual event, bringing together over 400 developers and innovators from diverse backgrounds. This event underscored the robust builder community in Miami, as well as travelers from all over the world, who were eager to explore the world of blockchain and emerging technology. This was the first hackathon I attended that had tracks and prize bounties up for grabs that were based on building in certain innovative spaces, but didn’t always require specific protocol integration. It was an interesting look into how an emerging tech hackathon can blend with a blockchain-specific hackathon.

A few stats from ETH Miami

455+ hacker applications

450+ general attendee registrations

400+ in attendance throughout the 3 days

31 projects submitted

23 side events

15 live pitches

8 winning projects - two of which used Unlock Protocol

Overall for being only their second conference, it was a well-run hackathon that saw many first-time hackers, who after speaking with them are excited to continue building and exploring the blockchian hackathon space. This includes attendees being very interested in how Unlock Protocol’s DAO works, and wanting to explore building with their tech outside of the event.

4 Tracks, Multiple Prizes

The event was structured around four distinct tracks, offering opportunities for participants to showcase their skills and creativity. Unlock Protocol, sponsored the general track, which meant that any project could leverage their tech for the hack. The 4 designated tracks included RWA (real-world assets) & AI, ReFi, DeFi, and Infrastructure.

Out of the 31 submitted projects, 7 of them leveraged Unlock Protocol to help build out their projects. The two winning teams in particular had the best integrations and one of the projects, CeloGive ended up being an ETHMiami finalist.

The Top 2 Projects Built Using Unlock Protocol From ETH Miami ‘23

While there were many noteworthy projects, which you can learn more about here, 2 in particular leveraged Unlock Protocols tech stack in a way that won them some cash prizes.

CeloGive: Bridging Regulatory Finance and Recurring Donations

CeloGive clinched the top position in the ReFi track and secured first place from Unlock as well. Their project aimed to provide a user-friendly and compliant solution for recurring donations on the Celo blockchain. CeloGive streamlined the donation process by enabling organizers to set up a Celo contract to receive funds and create an Unlock lock and key. Users who purchased recurring donations through Unlock could track their contributions, while an AI system helped identify and address non-compliant donations. This innovative approach allowed organizers to easily export donation information for compliance purposes.

NFDeed: On-Chain Mortgages with Property NFTs

NFDeed impressed the judges and claimed the second-place prize. Their project focused on implementing on-chain mortgages with property NFTs as collateral. Unlock Protocol played a pivotal role in representing mortgages as subscriptions, with recurring payments required to maintain ownership of property NFTs. They utilized Unlock's JavaScript SDK to query locks and available mortgages while developing a custom dashboard for potential buyers to view available properties.

Unlock Protocol in the Spotlight

Unlock Protocol's influence extended beyond sponsorship; they played a significant role in ticketing, with all hacker, judge, and general admission tickets issued through their platform. This association allowed participants to deepen their understanding of Unlock Protocol and explore its potential integration into their projects. We also had a series of speaking opportunities and workshops, that allowed us to get in front of everyone on stage on three separate occasions.

During the opening ceremony, each sponsor had the opportunity to introduce their work and discuss how it could be applied to the projects being developed at the event. Unlock Protocol, in particular, emphasized the importance of genuine integration into the submitted projects, evaluating them based on the completeness of the integration and the uniqueness of the final product.

We also ended up running the ideation and team formation workshop as well, with about 90% of the audience in attendance.

The event also featured informative workshops, including a session titled 'Getting Started with Unlock Protocol.' This hands-on session gave attendees a ton of practical knowledge on how to incorporate Unlock Protocol into their hackathon projects.

ETH Miami 2023 served as a testament to the growing enthusiasm for blockchain and emerging technology in Miami and the wider blockchain community. It was a fun experience and I enjoyed getting to participate in a more intimate style of hackathon and conference.

As blockchain technology continues to evolve, events like ETH Miami provide invaluable opportunities for collaboration and innovation. The web3 and emerging tech community can look forward to having access to more intimate, city-specific building events.