About the Hackathon
# Introduction
Let's get ready to build! Buidl Battle is a competition designed to celebrate and strengthen innovative projects built on Bitcoin. This three-week virtual event invites builders to put their projects in the spotlight, connect with investors and accelerators, and engage with other builders in the Bitcoin builder community.
During Buidl Battle, projects and builders will gain the spotlight and momentum to level up their work, while fresh talent will be welcomed into the ecosystem. Much more than a competition, Buidl Battle is a celebration and a launching point for the next wave of Bitcoin builders 🚀🚀
Questions? Get in touch through our [Telegram group](https://t.me/+P_jAzIPuRT8wYTMx).
# Submission Requirements
- Submit your project via DoraHacks and have it listed in the BUIDL gallery.
- **There will be two rounds of competition in Buidl Battle:**
- **Round 1:** Winners of each Stacks Track and each Sponsored Challenge will win prizes AND advance to Round 2.
- **Round 2:** Winners from Round 1 will all compete to be crowned the overall Buidl Battle Champion AND winning additional prizes! 🏆💸 Let the games begin 🙌
- **Learn more about Buidl Battle 👉 [Here](https://buidlbattle.com/)!**
# Timeline
- **March 3rd-9th:** Competition starts and building begins! Workshops will take place throughout the week to onboard builders to a comfortable level before building their projects.
- **March 10th-16th:** Office Hours with Mentors. Get help with any technical challenges or hurdles you're encountering with your projects.
- **March 17th:** Submissions due!
- **March 17th - 19th:** Judging evaluations begin.
- **March 20th:** Round 1 Winners announced
- **March 21st:** Round 2 and overall Champion announced!
# Competition Structure
### The competition will have 2 Rounds
### Round 1
- Builders will battle for the top spot for each of the 4 Themes (Bitcoin DeFi, Digital Economy, Real World Utility, Infra & Tooling), as well as each of the 3 Challenges (AIBTC, ICP, AWS).
- Builders may participate in any of the Themes, any of the Challenges, or all of the above!
- The 1st place winners of each Theme and the 3 Challenges will all advance to Round 2. Aside from the winners, an additional Wild Card team will be chosen for the 8th and final contender to advance to Round 2.
- Winners of Round 1 will be announced March 20th.
### Round 2
- Round 2 will consist of the 8 teams (winners from Round 1) presenting to a panel of VCs and Accelerators that will choose the overall winner.
- The overall Winner will be announced March 21st.
# Prizes
## Over **$90,000** in total prizes are available for this competition!
Below is the breakdown of the prizing structure for each of the 4 Themes (Bitcoin DeFi, 3.0 Digital Economy, Real World. Utility, Infra & Tooling), followed by the prizing for the Challenges.
## Theme Prizing
### 1st Place:
- $3,500 (paid in STX)
- $10K in AWS Credits
- Automatic advancement to Round 2
### 2nd Place:
- $1,500 (paid in STX)
- *Eligible* for Round 2 (but not guaranteed to advance)
## Challenge Prizing
### ICP Challenge
- 1st place:
- 5,000 USD (the prize will consist of 2500 USD + 2500 USD in ICP )
- 5,000 USD in ICP Developer Grant
- 2nd place:
- 5,000 USD in ICP Developer Grant
### AWS Challenge
- $10K in AWS Activate Credits for the first-place winner of the AWS Buidl with Bedrock Challenge
### AIBTC Challenge
- First 100 approved proposals receive $50 worth of sBTC each.
## Bonus Prizing
In addition to monetary rewards for placing in Round 1, teams that advance to Round 2 will be in contention for winning the grand prize of $5K and be crownd Buidl Battle Champion! 👑
Additionally, the pitches of the second round will be evaluated by a neutral panel of leads from VCs, accelerators, and launchpads in the Bitcoin ecosystem. This exposure will help projects get to the next step of their journey faster, as well as position them for potential funding opportunities from VCs and ecosystem grants.
# Themes
Below are the Tracks for builders to launch their projects using Stacks, AWS Bedrock, or both. See an expanded view of each of the four themes under the **[Themes](https://dorahacks.io/hackathon/buidlbattle/themes)** section.
- **Bitcoin DeFi - Scalable, Smooth, Secure.**
- **The 3.0 Digital Economy - MemeFi, SocialFi, GameFi.**
- **Real World Ordinals & NFT Usage - Beyond Memes & JPEG Art.**
- **Tooling & Infrastructure - AI, Cross-Chain, and Defragmentation.**
# Judging Criteria
The panel of judges will evaluate and select the best project for each Theme and Challenge. Be sure to pay close attention to the **judging details of the Challenge(s)** you are participating in.
Judging Criteria for projects within the 4 Themes listed above will be evaluated based on:
1. **Innovation**: Uniqueness of approach and creative problem-solving
2. **Technical Implementation**: Code quality, security considerations, and technical depth
3. **Bitcoin Alignment**: How well the solution leverages sBTC's unique properties
4. **User Experience**: Accessibility for both crypto-native and mainstream users
5. **Impact Potential**: Projected contribution to sBTC adoption and the Stacks ecosystem
6. **Utilizes Stacks**: Your project utilizes a component of Stacks technology, such as Clarity, sBTC, Proof of Transfer, stacks.js, or any Hiro tooling. Your project can also utilize other protocols within the Stacks ecosystem, such as ALEX, X-Link, Velar, Bitflow, etc.
# Judges
- Maxime Bucaille: Investor, Draper Associates
- Elizabeth Olson: Head of Marketing, Magic Eden on Bitcoin, VC
- Muneeb Ali: CEO, Trust Machines, VC
- Dan Held: GP, Asymmetric Fund, VC
- Mick Makky: Program Lead, BitcoinFi Network
- Kevin Williams: Founder, Sats Ventures, VC
- Michael Jarmuz: Co-Founder, Thunder Funder
- Jacob Brown: Sourcing Partner, Bitcoin Frontier Fund
- Kushagra Laddha: Head of BD, Tykhe Block Ventures
- Toby Lewis: Founder, Metalink Capital
- Erin Redwing: President, Open Ordinals Institute
- Jonathan Sadlowe: General Partner, Gossamer Capital
- Kyle Langham: Director of Data and Analytics, DFINITY
- Moritz Fuller: Senior Developer Relations Engineer, DFINITY
- Marco Walz: Senior Developer Relations Engineer, DFINITY
- David Chapman: President, Silvermine Capital
- Mike Chan: Venture Investor, Deep Ventures
- GM Chung: Founder, DeSpread
- Chiente Hsu: General Partner, Bitcoin Frontier Fund
- Ryan Waits: Developer Advocate, Hiro Systems
- Kenny Rogers: Developer Advocate, Stacks Foundation
- Hadan Esperidiao: BD Lead, AlexGo
# Partners
## **Program Partners**
**[Stacks Foundation](https://stacks.org) | [DFINITY](https://dfinity.org/) | [Hiro](https://www.hiro.so/) | [AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/) | [AIBTC](https://aibtc.dev/daos) | [RiseIn](https://www.risein.com/) | [LearnWeb3](https://learnweb3.io/)**
### **Community Partners**
**[Bitcoin Frontier Fund](https://btcfrontier.fund/) | [BitcoinFi Accelerator](https://bitcoinfi.network/) | [SATS Ventures](https://satsventures.com/) | [Asymmetric](https://www.acp.vc/) | [Thunder Funder](https://thunderfunder.com/) | [Draper Associates](https://www.draper.vc/) | [ALEX](https://alexgo.io/) | [Trust Machines](https://trustmachines.co/) | [Tykhe Block Ventures](https://tykheblock.ventures/) | [Gossamer Capital](https://www.gossamercap.com/) | [Bitcoin L2 Labs](https://bitcoinl2labs.com/) | [DeSpread](https://despread.io/) | [NoCodeDapps](https://www.nocodedapps.com/) | [KryptoPlanet](https://www.buidl.asia/) | [Kryptosphere](https://kryptosphere.org/en/) | [Builders Academy](https://www.buildersacademy.ai/) | [Stacks Labs](https://stackslabs.dev/) | [Crypto Tutors](https://www.cryptotutors.com/)**
# Who can apply?
- This competition is for all builders! We warmly invite community members, developers, researchers, and scientists to collaborate and contribute to these exciting initiatives.
- Whether you have your own idea you want to build, want to pursue some of the sponsored challenges, or both! This competition is intended to be a launching point for anyone looking to get started building on Bitcoin.
# Contact us
If you have questions before or during the competition, we encourage you to join the [Telegram group](https://t.me/+P_jAzIPuRT8wYTMx). If you'd like to send an email, reach us at [hi@buidlbattle.com](mailto:hi@buidlbattle.com)