Over 400 Projects Enter Inaugural Solana AI Hackathon Competition
The inaugural Solana AI hackathon concluded on Monday.
Over 400 projects participated in a contest offering cash prizes and potential attention for AI agents in the crypto space. Multiple entrants have tokens trading with market capitalizations reaching millions of dollars. Notable categories included agent copilots for crypto trading and AI agent "swarms."
Winners will be announced around Jan. 10, according to SendAI co-founder and CEO Yash Agarwal. A list of participants and details is expected to be posted soon.
While hackathons are common in Solana, this one stands out due to the number of contestant tokens already trading. The total market capitalization of Solana AI agent hackathon tokens has surpassed $200 million, comparable to the size of the Solana DeFi protocol Orca’s native token.
One project, FXN, an AI swarm, briefly reached a $70 million market cap after launching around Dec. 11 and currently holds approximately $44 million. FXN enables multiple AI agents to collaborate beyond the capabilities of a single agent, functioning as a social media marketing firm.
The rise of AI agents linked to crypto tokens gained traction following a viral social media chatbot with a token that emerged in October. The high number of hackathon entrants reflects intense competition among crypto AI projects.
Many projects aim to create an "intelligent interface for the Solana ecosystem." An anonymous developer from Project Plutus noted that users need not rely on AI bots for tasks they can perform themselves; instead, they developed an AI companion that monitors charts and trades while users are away.
A preliminary list shared by hackathon organizers indicates a significant focus on trading-related agents. Industry expert 0xJeff highlighted that the Solana AI Hackathon emphasizes the emergence of on-chain trading and DeFi as key areas for AI agents, likely driving innovation in early 2025.