QIE Blockchain Hackathon 2 Concludes with Record Participation as Hackathon 3 Launches on 1 August
Cape Town, South Africa, July 22nd, 2026,
The QIE Blockchain ecosystem has reached another milestone as Hackathon 2 officially concludes, reflecting continued growth in developer participation within the blockchain ecosystem. With 411 dApp submissions, participation from more than 2,300 developers worldwide, and over 700 decentralized applications now deployed on the QIE blockchain explorer, the event reflects ongoing developer activity on the QIE blockchain as a platform for Web3 application development.
Unlike many hackathons that reward concepts and prototypes, the QIE Hackathon continues to focus on one objective: deploying applications to mainnet. Throughout the competition, developers were challenged to build practical applications that address real-world use cases while utilizing the speed, low transaction costs, and scalability of the QIE blockchain. The result was a collection of projects spanning decentralized finance, AI, digital identity, developer tooling, and consumer applications.
Another feature of Hackathon 2 was its emphasis on transparency. A total of USD 20,000 in prize money has already been distributed to winning developers, with every payment executed on-chain, reflecting QIE’s approach to transparency and verifiable reward distribution for participants.
Congratulations to the Top Five Teams
After extensive evaluation of the highest-quality submissions, five projects stood above an already exceptional field.
1st Place — Qantara (Team Qantara)
Qantara earned first place by delivering what judges considered the most technically complete project of the competition. More than simply a payment application, Qantara is an entire programmable payments platform featuring verified invoices, milestone escrow, payment streaming, recurring subscriptions, batch payouts, payment splits, and gasless transactions. Built entirely on QIE Mainnet with developer SDKs and embeddable payment tools, the project demonstrated the type of infrastructure capable of supporting an entire ecosystem of future applications. Its trust-minimized payment verification architecture sets a new standard for secure blockchain commerce.
2nd Place — VeridiChain (Daanu Labs)
VeridiChain tackled one of the world’s biggest challenges: credential fraud. By combining QIE Pass identity verification with soulbound NFTs and stake-backed institutional accountability, the team created a decentralized credential verification platform capable of issuing tamper-proof academic qualifications. Institutions stake tokens, fraudulent issuers can be penalized through smart contracts, while anyone can verify credentials in seconds without needing a wallet or account. The judges praised its thoughtful security model and deep integration into the QIE ecosystem.
3rd Place — Fluenci (MrNetwork)
Fluenci showcased how artificial intelligence and blockchain can work together. The platform combines real-time streaming payments with autonomous AI agents capable of monitoring payment streams and automatically freezing suspicious activity before funds are lost. The project also integrates QIE Pass, QIE Wallet, QUSDC, QIEDex and QIE Domains, making it one of the deepest ecosystem integrations seen during the competition. Its innovative approach demonstrates the enormous potential of AI-powered financial infrastructure.
4th Place — SpendGrid (Estar Kunmi)
SpendGrid introduced a sophisticated payment-intent execution layer that allows treasuries, DAOs and AI agents to enforce spending policies before transactions reach the blockchain. Rather than signing transactions directly, users define payment intentions which are validated against budget rules, identity requirements, liquidity checks and permission controls. This architecture represents an exciting step toward enterprise-grade blockchain treasury management and autonomous financial operations.
5th Place — RemitChain (Chain Labs)
RemitChain addressed one of blockchain’s largest real-world opportunities — international remittances. Using QIE Pass identity and QUSD escrow, the application enables users to send money using only a phone number or email address while recipients require no crypto wallet. With a target transaction fee of just 0.1%, compared with traditional remittance providers charging 5–7%, the project demonstrates how blockchain technology can dramatically reduce the cost of global payments while making crypto invisible to end users.
These projects reflect exactly what the QIE Hackathon was designed to encourage: real innovation, practical products, deep ecosystem integration and solutions capable of serving millions of users.
Hackathon 3 Opens 1 August
Building on the tremendous success of Hackathon 2, QIE Blockchain is excited to announce that Hackathon 3 officially opens for registrations on 1 August 2026.
This edition represents a significant evolution in the program. Rather than rewarding the best demonstrations alone, Hackathon 3 focuses on building successful blockchain startups. Developers are encouraged to deploy on QIE Mainnet, launch to real users and prove measurable traction over a four-month build period running from 1 August through 10 December 2026.
The competition features a USD 17,000 prize pool across grand prizes, category awards and special recognition categories, while prize payments are structured to reward both successful launches and sustained adoption. Half of every prize is paid immediately upon winning, with the remaining portion released after projects demonstrate meaningful user traction within 90 days.
Developers can compete across five categories:
- DeFi & Financial Infrastructure
- AI & Autonomous Agents
- Consumer Applications & Social
- Commerce & Real-World Payments
- Developer Infrastructure & Tooling
Judging will emphasize innovation, technical quality, user experience, business potential and deep QIE Mainnet integration, with additional recognition for projects that achieve measurable adoption before judging.
Developer Infrastructure and Ecosystem
QIE Blockchain continues to differentiate itself as one of the most developer-friendly Layer-1 ecosystems. With fast finality, extremely low transaction costs, and a rapidly expanding ecosystem, developers can focus on building products rather than infrastructure.
Beyond the blockchain itself, developers gain access to QIE Pass and QIE ID, simplifying one of Web3’s greatest challenges: onboarding users. Applications can integrate reusable KYC, seamless authentication, and universal blockchain identities, dramatically reducing friction for both users and businesses. Instead of forcing users to manage complex wallet addresses and repeated identity verification, developers can offer familiar login experiences while remaining fully decentralized.
For builders creating financial services, marketplaces, AI applications or consumer platforms, QIE provides the infrastructure necessary to bring blockchain technology to mainstream users.
Hackathon 3 Registration
The momentum behind QIE continues to accelerate. With more than 700 live dApps, thousands of active developers, growing infrastructure and continuous ecosystem funding, there has never been a better time to build on QIE.
Hackathon 3 offers developers an opportunity to build and launch blockchain applications on QIE Mainnet, with registration opening on 1 August 2026.
Registration opens on 1 August 2026.
Build on QIE Mainnet. Launch to real users. Prove traction.
Developers are invited to join the official QIE Developer Telegram community for announcements, technical support, SDK updates and hackathon discussions:
https://t.me/+PyP385qw3qNkOTE1
The QIE ecosystem welcomes the next generation of builders. The future of Web3 will be built by developers creating new applications and technologies.
About QIE Blockchain
QIE Blockchain is a high-performance Layer-1 network designed as the identity and transaction layer for Web3. It bridges real-world applications with decentralized finance using EVM/Cosmos compatibility. Key features include 25,000+ TPS, a deflationary model that burns 80% of gas fees, native MEV protection, and built-in oracles.
Website: https://www.qie.digital/