MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — On the EasyA Hackathon tucked inside Consensus Miami 2026, the vitality felt much less like a standard crypto developer occasion and extra like a stay audition for the subsequent era of the intersection of blockchain and AI-native startups.
Practically 1,000 builders competed on the venue, some from established crypto ecosystems like Base and Solana, and others arriving from firms like Microsoft and Google, all racing to construct merchandise round one theme that stored surfacing in dialog after dialog: AI brokers.
The deal with AI brokers had already emerged earlier this yr on the EasyA x Consensus Hong Kong hackathon, the place organizers described 2026 because the “12 months of the Software Layer” as builders more and more shifted from infrastructure instruments towards AI-powered shopper purposes and autonomous brokers.
For brothers Dom and Philip Kwok, co-founders of EasyA, that evolution is strictly the purpose. What started as a small hackathon sequence in Austin, Texas, throughout Consensus 2023 has shortly reworked into one among crypto’s most intently watched builder gatherings, attracting younger passionate builders with more and more groups with severe technical pedigrees.
Their ambition for the occasion is bluntly easy. “We wish billion-dollar firms popping out of EasyA,” Dom Kwok stated throughout an interview with CoinDesk on the hackathon flooring. “We’ve already had, out of our different hackathons, a $10 billion firm.”
That success story has change into a part of EasyA lore. One Harvard workforce that pitched at a earlier EasyA occasion went on to discovered “Cognition AI,” which the Kwoks say is now valued at roughly $10 billion. One other former participant, Axal, is constructing stablecoin yield merchandise backed by bitcoin.
Different alumni have reportedly gone by Y Combinator, raised from high enterprise corporations and processed lots of of hundreds of thousands in transactions. The message to builders strolling by the Miami occasion was clear: that is now not only a couple-days coding competitors, it’s more and more being framed as a launchpad for venture-scale firms.
This yr, nonetheless, the middle of gravity has unmistakably shifted towards agentic AI. Coinbase sponsored challenges round x402, an rising framework builders are experimenting with for AI-agent funds and interactions, whereas Solana and Solana Cellular pushed groups towards mobile-first purposes and shopper experiences.
“Numerous builders [are] actually enthusiastic about AI agentic workloads,” Dom stated, pointing to the latest wave of large enterprise funding flowing into AI-agent infrastructure startups.
A number of the tasks already circulating across the venue mirrored how far builders are stretching the class. One workforce referred to as Praxis was engaged on blockchain-connected drones controllable by smartphones, what the brothers described as “the subsequent Palantir on the blockchain.” One other startup was constructing what they referred to as “hyper-intelligent AI,” software program designed to show textual content prompts into bodily 3D objects. “You may put in a immediate and say, ‘Construct me a microscope,’ and it’ll truly construct it for you,” Phil stated. “It’s like the subsequent section of taking ChatGPT from one thing informational into one thing embodied.”
The winners:
The judges rewarded tasks that pushed AI brokers past chatbots and into real-world coordination, automation and commerce, whether or not by {hardware}, funds infrastructure or consumer-facing apps. Throughout the completely different sponsor tracks, the successful groups mirrored the broader shift underway at this yr’s hackathon: builders had been now not simply constructing crypto instruments, they had been constructing merchandise meant for on a regular basis use. Prizes differed per monitor, and are nonetheless pending on how they are going to be divied up in every class.
Kickstart Observe ($50,000):
First place: FlyPraxis
Taking the highest spot within the Kickstart monitor was FlyPraxis, a real-time drone intelligence platform designed for army operators. The workforce pitched the undertaking as “Palantir, however in actual time,” utilizing AI-powered coordination and stay battlefield intelligence to handle autonomous drone methods.
Second place: HIIE
HIIE positioned second with a platform that turns textual content prompts into absolutely buildable {hardware} merchandise. Utilizing AI brokers to handle all the things from physics calculations and element sourcing to 3D CAD era and meeting documentation, the startup aimed to compress months of {hardware} prototyping right into a single workflow.
Third place: Clan World
Clan World rounded out the highest three within the Kickstart monitor, becoming a member of a broader wave of groups experimenting with AI-native coordination and community-driven purposes.
Solana Cellular Observe ($30,000 + $75,000 price of Solana telephones)
First place: Parabola
Within the Solana Cellular monitor, first place went to Parabola, a decentralized prediction and estimation market constructed on Solana. The platform permits customers to invest on real-world occasions by a distribution-based AMM mannequin designed for mobile-native buying and selling experiences.
Second place: Snakr
Snakr took second place with an AI-powered meals intelligence app that lets buyers scan merchandise to determine potential well being dangers, FDA recollects and ingredient issues. Customers can even contribute lacking product data and earn Solana-based rewards in return.
Third place: Rhythym
Third place winner Rhythym targeted on productiveness and accessibility, constructing a cell routine-support app geared toward serving to customers with govt dysfunction full each day duties. The app integrates with Solana’s Seeker cellphone, Nova 2 Lite and x402 infrastructure to create AI-assisted workflows.
Coinbase / AWS Observe ($45,000)
First place: Dairy Value API x402
The Coinbase and AWS monitor centered closely on AI-agent funds and autonomous commerce. The successful undertaking, Dairy Value API x402, constructed a pay-per-call commodity pricing and forecasting service that permits AI brokers to entry dairy market information with out conventional API keys. Funds are settled instantly in USDC by x402 on Base.
Second place: AgentPay
AgentPay positioned second with a fee coordination system that offers customers one-tap approval over AI-agent transactions whereas utilizing AWS-powered danger validation to make sure brokers spend funds responsibly.
Third place: Giggy
Giggy took third place for constructing a market the place customers can rent AI brokers to carry out analysis duties. Funds are locked in crypto escrow on Base, whereas the brokers themselves pays for premium APIs by x402-powered transactions.
Runner up: Chainlens
Chainlens targeted on belief and verification for autonomous methods, constructing an x402-compatible layer that connects AI brokers to verified APIs and solely releases fee as soon as responses are authenticated.
Learn extra: AI-powered brokers dominate the EasyA x Consensus Hong Kong hackathon