Summer of Code: Etherlink Hackathon 2025 on TezDev with $40K+ Prizes

Developers around the globe are sharpening their keyboards and brushing up on smart‑contract lore: Trilitech, the London‑based Tezos R&D hub, and Encode Club, the leading blockchain education platform, have officially christened 2025 as the “Summer of Code” with the launch of the Etherlink Hackathon. Kicking off on July 3 at TezDev—the annual gathering for Tezos enthusiasts—this month‑long, fully virtual competition promises more than $40,000 in prizes and a front‑row seat to the future of Tezos’s high‑speed Layer 2 network, Etherlink.

From July 3 through August 3, teams and solo builders will be challenged to exploit Etherlink’s standout features—sub‑500 ms transaction confirmations, fees so low they’re fractions of a cent, and the rock‑solid security of Tezos Level 1—to deliver breakthrough DeFi protocols, immersive on‑chain games, collaborative NFT experiences, and even the wildest, most off‑the‑wall blockchain concepts imaginable. A demo day finale will bring the cream of the crop to center stage, where finalists pitch live in front of judges drawn from Tezos’s developer ecosystem.

Calling All Developers

Momentum behind Etherlink has been building fiercely all year. Total value locked on the network has surged past $40 million, fueled by launches such as Oku, a DeFi aggregator integrating Uniswap v3 functionality, and the network‑wide Calypso upgrade, which slashes smart‑contract storage times by up to 30x while boosting stability. Those numbers reflect a growing developer and user base eager for low‑cost, high‑throughput blockchain experiences—and the hackathon is designed as the next logical step.

Entrants will compete in four tracks, each boasting an $8,100 prize pool:

• Best DeFi Application: From lending markets to synthetic‑asset platforms and seamless payment rails, builders are urged to leverage Etherlink’s EVM compatibility to reimagine finance on chain.
  
• Best Game or On‑Chain Interactive Experience: Think of everything from head‑to‑head PvP showdowns and sprawling NFT‑powered virtual realms to choose‑your‑own‑adventure style on‑chain stories—this category celebrates games that simply couldn’t exist without smart contracts.
  
• Collab Culture: This track is all about social and creative‑economy projects—rewarding tools and NFT experiences that bring people together and open the door to blockchain for everyone.
  
• Vibecode: Wildest & Most Unexpected Project: The wildcard slot, where unorthodox ideas that stretch blockchain’s limits can earn acclaim.

Track winners receive $4,050 for first place, $2,700 for second and $1,350 for third. On top of that, a $5,400 Grand Prize will go to the Best Overall Project, while the community will vote on a $1,350 Community Choice Award. The organizers will also hand out $1,350 worth of honorable mentions to promising upstarts.

Participants won’t be coding in a vacuum: Web3 infrastructure heavyweights—including Goldsky (blockchain indexing), Sequence (smart wallets and gaming), Thirdweb (developer SDKs) and Redstone (real‑time data)—will host workshops and make tools available. Meanwhile, mentors from Trilitech and the broader Tezos ecosystem, such as Efe Kucuk (Head of Gaming), Sofia Senatorova (Web3 Gaming Product Manager), Aleksandra Art (Head of Arts) and Vinciane Jones (Art Partner Manager), will guide teams through product, creative and technical challenges.

Overall coordination comes from Beata Lipska, Trilitech’s TechRel Squad Lead, with support from internal experts in DeFi, marketing and infrastructure. Registration stays open throughout the hackathon, with submissions due by August 4 at 01:59 BST. Judging kicks off on August 5, culminating in the live demo day. Developers keen to put Etherlink’s ultrafast rollup architecture through its paces can find details and sign up on the official hackathon website.

Etherlink isn’t just another Layer 2: powered by Tezos Smart Rollups, it lets teams deploy any EVM codebase and migrate users and assets seamlessly from Ethereum and other chains. For builders hungry to push the envelope of DeFi, gaming and on‑chain creativity, this summer’s code sprint could be the place to make their mark.