Aleph Zero Announces CTRL+Hack+ZK Hackathon with An Exciting Prize Pool

Summary:
• Aleph Foundation uses hackathons to promote web3 innovation and previous hackathons gave rise to projects like AZERO.ID and Syncra.

The Aleph Zero Foundation, the organisation managing the Aleph Zero blockchain, has announced a full-scale hackathon titled CTRL+Hack+ZK . Partners like stc Bahrain, Heartcore Capital, Arca Finance, Cardinal Cryptography, and Telekom MMS, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom have partnered with the organisation for the event.

The hackathon will be held virtually and will run from January 10th to January 31st, 2024. The hybrid event has multiple tracks and the prizes and funding opportunities will reach up to $575,000. There’s a prize pool of $75,000, from which winners will get between $2,000 and $20,000.

Additionally, participants will stand a chance to get $500,000 in fast-tracked follow-on investment. Judges for the hackathon will include partners from Franklin Templeton Investments, Block54, RR2 Capital, and more, giving competitors a great chance to expand their territories.

Why hackathon?

Aleph Zero intends to use CTRL+Hack+ZK, to promote innovation and collaboration in the blockchain industry. The organisation is inviting everyone to the event, from seasoned developers to those just starting out with Web3. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from the core development team and ecosystem partners of Aleph Zero through Rust and ink! workshops, instructional programming, and hands-on mentoring.

Participants will also have the chance to see their creations integrated into the expanding Aleph Zero ecosystem, which will offer developers a springboard to implement their creative ideas. The Aleph Zero ecosystem has recorded notable success stories from hackathons, with platforms like AZERO.ID and Syncra standing out.

Aleph Zero says it is building an ecosystem that offers users exceptional driven by a focus on privacy, compliance, and speed. With an emphasis on developing the application layer in the Rust and ink! environments, this hackathon seeks to promote the adoption of Web3 technology.

Teams from the current Aleph Zero ecosystem will talk about what they’ve done, giving new hackathon participants guidance on how to build their own projects with the help of the ecosystem.

Hackathon tracks and schedule

The hackathon tracks include:

• Telco: In this track, developers are invited to use Aleph Zero’s powerful tools to revolutionise the telecom sector. The focus will be on improving current infrastructure and coming up with new services, which will pave the way for even greater breakthroughs in the future of telecommunication.

• DeFi: Developers are invited to utilise Aleph Zero’s privacy-centric infrastructure in order to create one-of-a-kind DeFi solutions and services.

• DiD: The DiD track will focus on identity-related solutions that enable safe and decentralised identity management. The track will use Aleph Zero’s native privacy stack and network of interoperable tooling libraries.

• Gaming: Aleph Zero is inviting the gaming community to develop innovative ways to create NFT-based in-game items, improve game development with Aleph Zero’s specialised libraries, create smart contracts for in-game transactions and collectibles, and organise gaming data with indexers.
• Tooling and Infrastructure: This track aims to improve the Aleph Zero developer experience and ecosystem by creating tools, libraries, applications, and node providers.

The hackathon will start on January 10 with a Town Hall meeting of the Aleph Zero ecosystem, and will include workshops, intense hacking sessions, and finally, a demo day.  The event will culminate in awarding prizes, mentoring opportunities, and potential acceptance into the Aleph Zero Ecosystem Funding Programme on February 5th.