The 2021 Year in Review
When we set our eyes on this year, we had no idea how big our events would become. Thousands of hackers, hundreds of hours of content, and millions of dollars in prizes later, we think it’s safe to say 2021 was one of our biggest years yet. Though it would be killer to take credit for all of this ourselves, we wouldn’t be anywhere near this success without the help of our community.
If you were one of the thousands of hackers who joined us this year—thank you for making 2021 the most memorable year in ETHGlobal history. And if you couldn’t make it to any of our unforgettable events, don’t worry: we have plenty of opportunities coming for you in 2022. Keep reading to be reminded of the ways that 2021 broke the mold for the ETHGlobal community, and get excited for an upcoming year full of even more innovation and collaboration!
2021 by the numbers:
- 9 Hackathons + 19 Summits
- 5750+ Hackers
- 1337+ Projects
- 50k+ Hours of Content Consumed
- 120k+ Unique Viewers
- $1.5 Million in Prizes Awarded
Our events this year directly contributed to over one-thousand projects entering the space, with thousands more developers dipping their toes into Web3 for the first time. These events tested the strength of our team, but ultimately provided us with incredible insights into how we could best support the growth of the ecosystem. Read below for a full run-down of each of these events and a snapshot of what we have planned for this year.
📈 MarketMake
In conjunction with the team at Aave, we kicked off the year with a long-form hackathon focused on DeFi. MarketMake set the tone for what would turn out to be an impressive year, bringing in 490 Hackers from 58 countries to launch 134 new projects into the ecosystem.
The MarketMake Finalists
🐬 Orca Protocol, ⚔️ Paladin, ⛈ FlashSuite, 🤝 Lend2Protocols, 🔄 AAVEtrage, 📲 Mobile App for Aave, ⚖️ LevAave, 🤫 HushHush, ⚙️ Gearbox Protocol, ⏮ Revert, 🪙 Coinfu, 🤩 Claimable
🧩 NFTHack
We followed up MarketMake with a weekend hackathon focused on NFTs. Though they had yet to reach their peak in popularity for the year, the space was still red-hot. We knew we could leverage the moment to bring the next wave of developers and creatives into the ecosystem.
NFTHack 2021 brought together 590 Hackers and 1200+ Summit Attendees from 55 Countries to build 128 projects in the NFT space, and was easily one of our favorite events of the year. Check out our write-up of the event here.
The NFTHack 2021 Finalists
🔫 SouljaDrop, 🔗 hashink, 💦 Drip, ∞Boundless, 🧩 Nifty DM, 🎱 Boson Pool, 🕺 FUNC, 🐕 Crypto Corgis, 🍕 RarePizzas: Slice Saber in VR, 🧱 Cipher Blocks
👩🚀 Scaling Ethereum
Our next long-form event, Scaling Ethereum, saw 630 Hackers from 58 countries working together to build the infrastructure of Web3. Over the month-long competition, we hosted a number of summits and events that brought in over 1100+ viewers to highlight scaling developments in the ecosystem, complete with some incredible speakers like Justin Drake, Karl Floersch, Vitalik Buterin, Elena Nadolinski, and more.
In addition to these talks, we hosted four, single-day events like the MEV Roast, that gave audience members insight into hot topics like Miner Extractable Value (MEV). Scaling Ethereum was a massive success, launching 133 new projects into the space. Read our in-depth recap here.
The Scaling Ethereum Finalists
🦘Kangaroo, 🏛️ Alexandria, 🧪 The LabRats, 🌞 Zeneth, 🌊 HydroFile,🐛Cairo Debugger, ⚒️ Devolution, 🧩 NFT Puzzle Thing, ❌ Exfil, 🍧 eth-sorbet, 😎 Flaunt, 🌈 Ray Tracing
🌐 Web3 Weekend
Hot on the heels of Scaling Ethereum, we hosted a three-day event focused on all-things Web3 with our friends at Protocol Labs. Though shorter in length than some of our other events this year, Web3 Weekend proved to be equal in excitement—bringing in 275 Hackers from 53 countries and 500 Summit Attendees to create 94 new projects in the web3 space. The best part? 47% of Hackers were new to Ethereum!
Check out our write-up here, and head over to our Youtube channel for some of the highlights from the 16 talks and workshops.
The Finalists:
💱ZeroFee Exchange, ⛓️Cross Chain Wallet Dashboard, 🧪Open Science (Opsci) Data Wallet, 💥NFT-ME, 🔊The Ultra Sound Music Project, ✨MeMeta, 🗣️The Convo Space, 📺DBS-Decentralized Broadcast & Stream, 🎨ArtVaults, 🖼️YouTube NFT Drop, 🏭NFT Factory Factory, ⚒️Canva NFT Minter
🤑 HackMoney
Over the course of three weeks this summer, the entire DeFi community came together under one roof to build the future of finance. Over 1100 staked hackers from 75 countries built 231 projects—making it our largest hackathon at the time!
On top of that, 1000+ Summit Attendees joined us for three single-day summits, featuring speakers like SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce, Demetri Kofinas, and Hasu. HackMoney 2021 was nothing short of epic. Check out the finalist projects below, or visit our other post for a full recap of the event.
The Finalists:
⚡Tesser, 🏦Medicis, 📈NostraSwap, 🧾Variable Finance, 💹Polynomial Protocol, 🔄Compound Swaps, 💱stakeall.finance, ⛓️Li.Finance, ⚒️Irrevocable, 🔢Increment, 🏴☠️TreasureBuidl, 💰Wido, 💵Tiden, 🛄Claimable, 🧱Blockhead: The HackMoney DeFi Update, ↔️Splits
📁 HackFS
Following the success of HackMoney, our attention turned to the Web3 storage space. HackFS 2021 was a month-long event devoted to the (F)ile (S)ystems that make up the distributed web, complete with summits, talks, and workshops from those building the space. 670 Hackers from 70 countries joined us to build 153 projects, while hundreds more tuned in to watch some of the 30 talks & workshops offered by our partners.
Once again joined by our friends at Protocol Labs, we were able to take 2021’s edition of HackFS to new heights. Read our full recap to get a taste of the action, and take a look at the finalist projects below!
The Finalists
🔭 Discovery, 🎨Coopart, 👛DataWallet/BYOFM, ⛴️Ferry:, 🧩Fragment, 🃏Ventura Protocol, 🔖ScholarDAO, 🧪Xirva, 🔫CryptoShooters, 🥇FungyProof, 📄Doxx, 📌Pastepin
🌍 ETHOnline
While HackMoney had set the bar earlier in the year, ETHOnline set it higher. 1,150 Hackers joined us, representing 77 countries and 19 time zones—building 218 projects. On top of that, 54 partner teams (including a few that launched at previous ETHGlobal hackathons) came together to help us host 4 packed summits and award over $350,000 in prizes to 17 finalists and dozens of other winners.
These single-day summits on Governance and DAOs, NFTs, DevTools, and the Merge provided hackers and summit attendees with valuable insights into developments in the ecosystem and worked to bring the community together under one roof. ETHOnline was our biggest event of 2021 and celebrated an incredible year in Ethereum by sending hundreds of new projects into the space. Read our full event recap here, and check out the finalist projects below.
The Finalists
✨ Nifty Pixels, 🔪 Splice, 🐶 Degen Dogs, 📕 NFT Metadata Explorer, 🍵 Just Mint, 🏘 WAGMI, 💿 Variety.Finance, 💰 Vialend, 🍲 Myso, 👩🌾 Silo Finance, 🌞 Risedle, 🦈 LonesomeShark, 🪐 Neptune, ♻️ Andsub, 💰doxx.network,🪝🧱 Blockhook, 🧙♂️ Paymagic
🦄 UniCode
When the Uniswap Grants Program team approached us to create a two-week, community-focused hackathon, we jumped at the chance. The Uniswap ecosystem draws on a vibrant community of developers and creatives from around the world and giving them a place to unite online (and the tools to build something great) seemed like a win-win.
340 Hackers (representing 48 countries), 7 partner teams, and 61 projects later, UniCode proved to be one of our favorite events this year. Don’t miss our full write-up over here.
Our Finalists
🔎 Uniswap API Explorer, 🔮 Sandrone’s, 🎮 Skyfire DAO, 📈 UniStrategy, ⛓️ Crosscash, 🎓 Uniramp, 🚌 Caravan, 🛩️ Airlift Finance, 🤝 HeroSwap, 🌊 Superfluidity
🍯 Web3 Jam
Protocol Labs is one of the most driven, creative, and forward-thinking teams in the space, so it should come as no surprise that we jumped at the chance to build Web3 Jam when they approached us to run a shorter-form hackathon this fall. Web3 Jam gave hackers and summit attendees a taste of the future of Web3, packed with talks, workshops, and networking opportunities for all.
Web3 Jam saw 410 Hackers from 51 countries create 101 projects in just two weeks of hacking. Check out the highlights from the event below, and do a deep dive here.
The Finalists
🐦 TweEther, 📰 3Feed, 💯dyFactor, 🎨Cryptomurals, 🖼️ Photure, 🐚 Seashells, 🖌️ NFTIZ, 🎟 ENS.me, 💸 Backer, 🎒 Transdimensional Inventory Service
Thank You
Obviously, it would be nice to take all the credit for such an incredible year, but we couldn’t have done it without our dedicated partner teams, judges, speakers, technical mentors, support staff, and passionate community. Each and every one of you contributed to our success and were integral in making our ambitious lineup of events possible. We are filled with immense gratitude for the support shown by our partner teams and ETHGlobal Community Members this year, and promise to continue building the best events in Web3.
We believe that creating a robust community of developers and creatives in the Ethereum ecosystem will pave the way to great things, and we’re grateful to be supported by some of the strongest teams in the space. Here’s a quick snapshot of all of our excellent 2021 Partner Teams.
2021 was a big year for our hackathon teams as well, with multiple teams launching to mainnet shortly following our events. Teams like Gearbox Protocol grew to new heights, while others gained traction and funding through grants with our Partners. On top of that, teams like Secured Finance, that got their start in previous ETHGlobal hackathons, became our Partners this year. We’re proud to support teams at all levels, at every step of the process. As we like to say, no idea is too small (or too big)—we’ll help you build it.
Announcing the 2022 Calendar
We said it and we meant it, this year is going to be even better. From running more online events per quarter than we have in 2021, to creating our first IRL events in what feels like forever, this year is looking strong. Check out our full write-up of the 2022 schedule here, and catch a glimpse of what’s to come below.
Events to look forward to (more info)
- 🏮ETHAmsterdam (April 22–24, apply now)
- 🤑 HackMoney (May)
- 🗽ETHNewYork (June 24–26)
- 🗄 HackFS (July)
- 🇲🇽 ETHMexicoCity (August 19–21)
- 🌎 ETHOnline (September)
- 🌉 ETHSanFrancisco (Nov 4–6)
- 🇹🇼 ETHTaipei (Dec 2–4)
- 🇨🇴 ETHBogota (Q4 2022)
- +6 More Online Hackathons to be announced soon
Updates from our team:
Believe it or not, 2021 was a big year for our team (even outside of the events we run). Starting in January, we brought on a number of fresh faces, growing our core team to nine people — with more to come! Though our team has grown significantly over the past few years, our mission remains the same — onboard as many developers to the Ethereum ecosystem as we can (and by any means necessary).
We look forward to another incredible year and have already outlined plans for our first in-person events in close to a year. Our anticipated schedule can be viewed here, as well as our commitment to creating a safe hackathon environment for all who attend.
On top of this extensive list of IRL events, we will be announcing even more online hackathons and single-day summits throughout the year. If you thought 2021 was a big year for Ethereum events, strap in — because next year will be even better.
We look forward to seeing you all soon. Applications are now open for NFTHack and ETHAmsterdam — tell your friends! Thanks for another incredible year, and thank you for being part of the ETHGlobal Community.
Cheers,
❤ The ETHGlobal Team
—
(Check out our community, follow us on Twitter, and join our team!)
