Because the curtain falls on Consensus Hong Kong 2026, the main focus has shifted from the company boardrooms to the present ground. Whereas institutional discuss dominated the principle phases, almost 1,000 builders spent the week within the trenches of the EasyA x Consensus Hackathon, signaling a definitive pivot within the business: the “12 months of the Utility Layer.”
The competitors, which has turn out to be a staple of Consensus by CoinDesk’s flagship occasions, noticed over 30 tasks pitch on demo day. The standard of builds, aided considerably by generative AI, clearly demonstrated that the barrier between a “proof of idea” and a “market-ready product” has successfully been eliminated.
A rising bar: From infrastructure to intent
The evolution of the developer expertise at Consensus has grown steadily. In earlier years, hackathon submissions have been usually deeply technical, constructing quicker consensus mechanisms or area of interest scaling options that remained out of attain for the common person.
This yr, nevertheless, the bar has been set to a brand new stage. Builders have developed into product builders, shifting their focus from the backend to the person.
“The large factor that we have seen proper now’s that builders are literally constructing issues that actual folks can truly use,” mentioned Phil Kwok, co-founder of EasyA. “We have seen a giant improve within the software layer. That is the yr of the horse in Asia, but it surely’s the yr of the applying layer in blockchain.”
This shift towards Consumer Expertise (UX) was evident within the subtle use of “passkeys”, applied sciences from iOS and Android that enable customers to log into Web3 apps with out the friction of 24-word seed phrases, Kwok mentioned. By eradicating these conventional “clicks” and obstacles, builders are lastly making merchandise that really feel just like the apps folks use daily.
The Winners’ Circle
The judges awarded prime honors to tasks that prioritized automation, safety, and danger administration, three pillars important for the subsequent wave of retail adoption, Kwok defined.
First place: FoundrAI ($2,500)
Taking the highest spot was FoundrAI, an autonomous AI agent designed to behave as a “startup in a field.” The platform does not simply launch tokens; it manages your entire lifecycle of a undertaking, together with hiring human builders to construct out the product. It represents a provocative have a look at the way forward for decentralized labor.
Second place: SentinelFi ($1,750)
Addressing the business’s persistent “rug-pull” downside, SentinelFi offers real-time security scores for crypto merchants. By performing six-category on-chain evaluation, the instrument helps customers sniff out rip-off tokens earlier than they commit capital—a important utility as token launch volumes explode.
Third Place: PumpStop ($1,000)
PumpStop rounded out the highest three with a non-custodial buying and selling layer centered on danger mitigation. Utilizing state-channel prompt execution, it permits merchants to set stop-loss orders with on-chain proofs, bringing professional-grade buying and selling instruments to a decentralized surroundings with out sacrificing custody.
The ‘present ground’ evolution
The expansion of the hackathon displays a broader shift within the Consensus ethos. As soon as a strictly company affair, the occasion has more and more built-in the “builder” tradition into its DNA. Dom Kwok, co-founder of EasyA, famous that the hackathon has moved from aspect rooms to the middle of the present ground.
“Usually each hackathon that we host will get larger and greater,” Dom mentioned. “It is taking over increasingly of the convention ground yearly. We had somebody flying in from San Diego simply to see what was getting constructed.”
Regardless of the “miserable” macro surroundings usually mirrored in token costs, the sentiment on the bottom in Hong Kong remained stubbornly bullish. Organizers identified that whereas rates of interest and Fed coverage drive the charts, the builders are centered on the 93% of the world that does not but personal crypto. The trail to that subsequent billion customers, it appears, is being paved by builders who lastly understand that usability is the last word characteristic, Dom mentioned.
Phil and Dom mentioned they’ll’t anticipate Consensus Miami 2026 to see how way more the bar is raised and what number of extra builders take part with surprisingly nice new concepts.
