About the Hackathon
# ☘️ Welcome to the ETH Dublin 2025 hackathon.
This guide helps you focus your project and understand how you’ll be judged. Build something impactful, keep it simple, and have fun.
# **🤝 Partner Integration Map**
Here are each sponsor's strengths with specific roles in the hackathon -- you can technical documentation in the X section.
1. **[FCAT](https://www.fcatalyst.com/blockchain)** - Research frameworks, compliance tools for institutional adoption
2. **[Chorus One](https://github.com/ChorusOne)** - Cross-chain infrastructure, validator support.
3. **[Olas Protocol](https://docs.olas.info/https://github.com/olas-protocol/https://forum.olas.info/)** - Information markets and knowledge curation systems.
4. **[Ledger](https://developers.ledger.com/)** - Security infrastructure, signing mechanisms for project milestones.
5. **[Ninedots](https://ninedots.io/resources/)** - Physical-digital experiences, art integration.
6. **[Avara](https://avara.xyz/)** - Social identity and community formation via Lens.
7. **[Chainlink](https://dev.chain.link/)** - Oracle services for external data verification.
8. **[OpenZeppelin](https://docs.openzeppelin.com/)** - Security auditing and contract templates.
9. **[Filecoin](https://docs.filecoin.io/smart-contracts/fundamentals/the-fvm)** - Permanent storage solutions for hackathon outputs.
10. **[Trrue](https://www.trrue.io/about-us)** - enabling compliant, impact-driven solutions.
11. **[Figure Markets](https://www.figuremarkets.com/about/)** - a decentralised custody marketplace for crypto.
12. **[Ethereum Support Program](https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/)** (ESP) - Core protocol infrastructure, grants for standout projects.
# **♟ Team Formation**
🍒 Find your team members on [Cherry](https://www.cherry.builders) by creating a profile and swiping, just like a dating app. Then:
- Apply filters to find the right match.
- Once matched, connect via the Chats page
If you need tech support, reach out to @deca12x on Telegram!
# **⚖️ Balancing Teams**
Aim for teams consisting of between 2 and 5 people.
We'd like teams to have as many skillsets represented as possible. We suggest thinking about the roles/archetypes below to balance your team.
- 🧠 **King (Sales)**: Someone who can *close* — with judges, with partners, with users.
- 🧬 **Queen (Marketing)**: Makes the story *stick*. Videos, vibes, virality.
- 🧰 **Castle (Simplicity)**: Keeps scope manageable. Cuts fluff.
- 🎯 **Bishop (Positioning)**: Understands the audience + fits the project into a meaningful narrative or use case.
- 🌈 **Knight (Creativity)**: Weird ideas. Game mechanics. Humour. Myth.
- 🛠️ **Pawns (Foundation)**: Steady builders. Make the project *work*.
***Please note, not every role needs to be filled by one person, and not every team needs every role. This is just a suggestion and will not impact judging.*
# **🧠 Project Design System**
Each project should aim to include:
- A **narrative hook**.
- A **technical scaffold** (based on one or more sponsor APIs/toolkits).
- A **harm reduction lens**: who it serves, naming a specific social harm.
# ❤️🩹 Harm Reduction BUIDLs
When people hear ‘harm reduction’, they often think of addiction services. This track is meant to inspire more holistic and humanist interpretations.
Here are 6 project proposals sourced from the ETH Dublin community and 1 set of meta hack challenges. Please feel free to adopt, build, and adjust as you see fit.
***N.B. Working on your own ideas has no impact on judging. These are suggestions that you are to use or adapt.***
### 🧠 Make Ireland Innovative Again
Theme: Education Reform, Digital Sovereignty
Core Idea: Reimagine education using Ethereum-based lessons or sandboxes for students to deploy/test smart contracts safely.
### 🌍 A Big Web3 Welcome: Fostering Community Integration
Theme: Immigration, Mutual Aid, Social Infrastructure
Core Idea: Build a skill-sharing marketplace + social graph + DAO vote system for immigrant-led projects.
### 🕵️♀️ ÉireEncrypt
Theme: Privacy Tech, Legal Compliance
Core Idea: Empower citizens and small businesses to use privacy-preserving blockchain tools to meet GDPR.
### 🚗 SafeRoads Ireland
Theme: Public Safety, Youth Engagement
Core Idea: Smart contracts and decentralised coordination to reward safe driving + community hazard reporting.
### 🆘 Decentralised Community Safety and Crisis Response
Theme: Mutual Aid, Crisis Tech
Core Idea: A local-first, privacy-respecting platform for emergencies, blending ZK and hyperlocal DAOs.
### 🏠 Decentralised Rent Control and Fair Pricing Using Ethereum
Theme: Housing Justice, Transparency
Core Idea: Make rents fairer with smart contracts and real-time, tamper-proof price tracking.
### 🧩 Meta Challenge Ideas
Hackathon Auction House: Let teams bid out mini-bounties using a simple credit/token system. Supports partial contributions and cross-team collaboration.
Prediction Market Challenge Map: Use JokeRace or a minimal prediction market tool to vote on challenge ideas, guide mentorship flow, or reward emerging needs.
Proof of Craic Map: Build a dynamic, hackathon-wide dashboard showing: Most collaborative teams; Most poetic code; Best use of “care” as a design principle.
# **🧑⚖️ Judging Criteria**
Your project will be evaluated on the weighted criteria below. Build with these in mind to maximise your opportunity for rewards.
- **Technical Execution (30%)**
- Does the project work as demoed?
- Is it secure?
- Is there clean and functional code?
- **Innovation (20%)**
- Does it creatively address the challenge?
- Is the solution novel or clever?
- **Impact (20%)**
- Who benefits from the solution?
- Does it promote inclusivity and fairness?
- Does it address a clear social need (e.g., loneliness, accessibility)?
- **Narrative & Presentation (20%)**
- Is the story compelling and culturally resonant?
- Is the pitch/demo clear and engaging?
- Does it start with a strong “***why***”?
- **Sponsor Tech Integration (10%):**
- Is there meaningful use of sponsor APIs/toolkits?
# 🤫 **Tips for Success**
- **Keep It Simple:** Focus on 1-2 features for a working demo. Use 1-3 sponsor APIs max.
- **Leverage Mentors:** Keep an eye out for the mentor station onsite.
- **Tell a Story:** Weave a narrative hook (mythical, cultural, or social) to make your project memorable.