HackX Buildathon: Participant Directions & Guidelines

The Vision

We're building the open-source hackathon platform that developers actually want to use. HackX brings together top builders to create something better than what exists today—then we use that platform to run real hackathons connecting talent with projects.

Objective

The HackX Buildathon challenges you to build an innovative, open-source hackathon platform from the ground up. Your mission is to create a fully functional platform that addresses the core needs of hackathon participants and organizers. This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase your full-stack development skills, collaborate with a team, and create a portfolio-worthy project.

The top-winning project will be adopted as the official hackathon platform for all future AthenaX hackathons, with full credit to the builders.

Project Scope: Key Challenges & Suggested Structure

Your project should provide creative and effective solutions for a complete hackathon experience. We encourage you to think critically about the user journey and design a seamless interface. Your platform should address the following core areas.

To provide a clearer direction, we've included a suggested structure for each challenge. This is a reference, not a strict requirement. You are encouraged to innovate and improve upon this blueprint.

• Challenge: Hackathon Discovery

  • How can participants easily find, search, and filter through active, upcoming, and past hackathons?

  • Suggested Structure: A "Hackathon Discovery Page" that serves as the main gallery for all events, featuring robust search, filter, and sort functionality.

• Challenge: Event Details Presentation

  • What is the most effective way to present all essential information about a single hackathon?

  • Suggested Structure: A "Hackathon Detail Page" with four distinct sections: "Overview," "Prizes & Judges," "Schedule," and "Submitted Projects." It should clearly display key elements like event tracks, judging criteria, and a prominent registration button.

• Challenge: Organizer's Workflow

  • How can you streamline the process for an organizer to create, configure, and publish a new hackathon?

  • Suggested Structure: A "Create a Hackathon" flow, likely a multi-step form, that guides organizers through the entire process of setting up and publishing their event.

• Challenge: Participant's Submission Journey

  • How do participants register, create a project, and submit it to a specific hackathon?

  • Suggested Structure: An integrated "Create & Submit Project" flow. From their dashboard, a participant can initiate a new project, fill out its information, and attach it directly to an active hackathon, completing both creation and submission in one seamless process.

• Challenge: Project Showcase & Interaction

  • How can submitted projects be displayed attractively within each hackathon to encourage community engagement?

  • Suggested Structure: The "Submitted Projects" section within the Hackathon Detail Page can act as a project gallery. It should allow users to browse all submissions, view project details, and potentially include features for filtering or voting.

• Challenge: User & Admin Management

  • What essential tools should be available for users and admins?

  • Suggested Structure: A "User Dashboard" for authenticated participants to manage their profile and project submissions, and a simple "Admin Panel" providing basic moderation tools to manage platform content.

Bonus: Host your version online and make it demo-ready!

Technical Guidelines & Freedom We believe in empowering builders. You have the freedom to choose the tech stack you're most comfortable and productive with to build a modern web application.

However, to ensure the spirit of a "buildathon" is maintained, please adhere to these guidelines:

• Your project must be a full-stack web application, including a frontend, a backend, and a database.

• The use of no-code/low-code platforms or backendless site builders is not permitted.

• While you have styling freedom, we encourage you to build your UI from the ground up rather than relying heavily on pre-built component libraries like MUI or Bootstrap. This is your chance to showcase your design and CSS skills.

Resources To provide some context, we may offer optional resources. These are for inspiration only and are not required design specifications.

• Reference figma design

Submission Guidelines Your submission must meet the following criteria:

• Must be a functioning full-stack web app.

• Must be open source with a public GitHub repo (MIT or similar license required).

• Must include:

  • A working frontend.

  • A functional backend and database.

  • Clear workflows for project submission and hackathon creation.

  • A README.md file with setup instructions, a description of the tech stack used, and team information.

  • Clean, well-commented code.

  • A working user authentication system.

• Must be deployed to a live URL (Vercel, Netlify, etc.).

Judging Criteria

📜 Judges & Partners Confirmed:

@nounsdao — daily‑minted pixel‑art NFT collection funding decentralized, community‑driven governance initiative

@athenax_co — Web3 data & research platform

@injective — The blockchain built for finance

@0G_labs — The largest DeAI L1 ecosystem

@GlitterProtocol —  A decentralized database 

@Anmol — Dev Trafficker @EclipseFND

@Austin Griffith — educator at ethereum foundation, founder of @buidlguidl

@Chuhan(Vincent) — Injective APAC DevRel

@DefiDevrel.base.eth — Global Builder@base; prev @monad_xyz @alchemylearn

@DZLZV — Co-founder @helloSQD (the first database network, raised 30M) and Founder @helloSQDGN

@Ethean — building@OurTinTinLand; ex-@solvprotocol; passionate about AI agents, stablecoins, and RWAs

@Gordian — DevRel co-op @modenetwork, Researcher; prev - @SaladChefs (SaladCloud) • Interested in AI, Onchain Protocols, ZK Proofs, Dev Tools & Cloud-Native https://x.com/ConsensysSystems

@Gwen — Web3 Traveler // DevRel@Consensy & @LineaBuild // prev DevRel@OraProtocol // @DevRelUni cohort 5 // Paris

@Progress.btc — DevRel at @LayerEdge; Member Avalanche Team1; Researcher; Passionate about Zk Proofs, Bitcoin and dev tools

@William — building@Cwallet Web3 tech expert With deep experience in DAO tooling, HR automation, and PaymentFi systems

@xfajarr — building secure transfer & payment @usestrapt & social savings protocol @goalfinancefun | @arbitrum dev ambassador | @ethjkt dev advocate | @dev3pack fellow

@Y J — Founder of @ClusterProtocol

@微扰 — founder of According.work backed by MiraclePlus (formerly YC China)

Bonus Challenges

Consider implementing these features for extra points:

• Add light/dark mode.

• Add email notifications or webhooks.

• Add voting or leaderboard for projects.

• Implement live updates using sockets.

• Add mobile responsiveness.

Timeline

• July 30: Registration Opens

• August 21: Opening Ceremony / Hack-kickoff

• August 21 – September 20: Competition Period

• September 8 (23:59): Registration Closes

• September 20 (23:59): Submission Deadline

• September 21 – October 20: Judging Period

• October 21: Reward Distribution Begins

Final Submission

Please submit the following:

• GitHub Repo Link

• Live Demo (if deployed)

• 1–3 minute Demo Video (Loom, YouTube, etc.)

• Team member list and roles

Submit via the Hackathon dashboard or [Google Form link].

Prizes

• 1st Place: $1,000 USDT

• 2nd Place: $600 USDT

• 3rd Place: $500 USDT

Internship Opportunity

All Top 3 Winners will receive a fully paid full-time internship at AthenaX. You’ll work on real-world Web3 products, grow with experienced mentors, and help shape our ecosystem.

Official Platform Bonus

The winning project will be adopted as the official AthenaX Hackathon Platform, used to host real events — with your GitHub credited and your repo featured!

📣 Community Support from:

@OurTinTinLand | @TechFlame_News | @Glitter protocol | @Cwallet |  @CoinRank_io |  @0xUClub | 

@WorkWorkOrg |  @YouBetDAO | @DeAgentAI | @CorrAI | @AiMo | @OpenBuild

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