TBD Announces Hackathon Grants to Improve Payment Systems in Africa

TBD, a division of Block, has launched the TBD Hackathon in collaboration with the Africa Bitcoin Conference. This competition aims to foster innovation and technological advancement in African payment systems using the tbDEX open-source protocol. The hackathon's submission period runs from July 31, 2024, to September 15, 2024, with the event concluding at the Africa Bitcoin Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, from December 9-11, 2024.

The TBD Hackathon seeks to empower African developers and innovators to address significant issues in payment systems across the continent, such as limited banking access, high transaction fees, and inefficient cross-border payments. By leveraging TBD's tbDEX protocol, participants will connect users to wallet providers and financial institutions, offering competitive exchange rates and fees to enhance financial inclusion and efficiency.

To register for the hackathon and learn more, start here.  (www.tbdex.io/hackathon)

Hackathon Challenge

Developers across Africa will be tasked with developing a payment application that leverages the power of tbDEX. Join this hackathon and develop a wallet application integrated with tbDEX. You will be provided with a sandbox of example PFIs (Participating Financial Institutions) to test your application’s functionality. Participants will work in teams of up to two people and are expected to build their projects using the tbDEX SDK. 

Six finalist teams will be selected and flown to Nairobi, Kenya, to attend the Africa Bitcoin Conference and present their projects to our panel of judges. Prizes will be awarded to the top three projects: $15,000 in BTC for the first prize, $10,000 and $5,000 in BTC for the second and third prizes respectively.

“We encourage developers, entrepreneurs, and innovators from all over Africa to participate,” said Angie Jones, Global VP of Developer Relations for TBD. “Whether you are a seasoned professional or a passionate newcomer, the TBD Hackathon is the perfect platform to build the next generation of financial tools for the continent.”

To sign up for the hackathon and learn more, start here. 

tbDEX is an open-source trust protocol that connects wallet applications and liquidity providers. With SDK implementations available in TypeScript, Kotlin, and Swift, tbDEX works for web, iOS, and Android applications. tbDEX utilizes innovative open technologies such as Decentralized Identifiers and Verifiable Credentials to securely validate counterparty identity and trust.