100% Virtual

Feb 1–28, 2026

Starknet Hackathon Re{define}

build privacy solutions by scaling bitcoin

Backed by

 Total Prize Pool 

$27,000 USD total

$21,500 USD value, distributed in STRK tokens + $5,500 in-kind from Xverse (Bitcoin track only)

 Prize breakdown by track 

Bitcoin

$9,675 USD

paid in STRK tokens

+ $5,500 Xverse in‑kind

API plans & mentorship

Privacy

$9,675 USD

paid in STRK tokens

Open

$2,150 USD

paid in STRK tokens

Submissions begin

DAYS

HRS

MIN

SEC

Submissions end

DAYS

HRS

MIN

SEC

Your Journey

Jan 19

Register

Feb 1

Start Building

Hacking period begins

Feb 1-28

Build and Iterate

4 weeks of hacking

Feb 28

Submit

Deadline 23:59 UTC

Mar 15

Winners Announced

Results and prizes

Prize Tracks

Tracks & prizes

Every track includes real project ideas for hackers, collected by Starknet Foundation, StarkWare experts, and ecosystem partners. Total prizes up to $27,000 ($21,500 USD + $5,500 in-kind) — view the full breakdown on DoraHacks.

PRIVACY TRACK

$9,675

Build privacy-preserving applications using STARKs, zero-knowledge proofs, and confidential transactions on Starknet.

Curated hacker ideas

HACKER IDEAS AND PRIZE NOTES +

PRIZES

$9,675 USD

paid in STRK tokens

$9,675 USD value, paid in STRK tokens. Awarded to the top privacy-preserving projects based on impact and technical depth.

SEE PRIZE BREAKDOWN

 ZK PROTOCOL IMPLEMENTATIONS + 

Implement Semaphore on Starknet

Port the Semaphore protocol to Cairo for anonymous group membership and signaling.

Build Cairo verifiers for Sigma protocols

Implement zero-knowledge Sigma protocol verifiers in Cairo.

Mental Poker implementation

Provable card shuffles under encryption, foundation for hidden-info games.

Anonymous credentials system

Prove attributes (age, membership) without revealing identity.

 GAMES WITH PRIVATE STATE + 

Poker / card game with hidden hands

Players cannot see each other cards, provably fair.

Strategy game with fog of war

Hidden game state between players.

Liar's poker or bluffing games

Games where lying is part of the mechanic, privacy enables fair play.

 PRIVATE DEFI & COMMERCE + 

Sealed-bid auction

Hidden bids until reveal, prevents front-running and bid manipulation.

Dark pool / private orderbook

Hide trade intent from front-runners, MEV protection.

Private prediction market

Hidden positions until market resolution.

 PRIVATE GOVERNANCE + 

Private voting system

Hide votes until tally, prove eligibility without revealing identity.

 CONFIDENTIAL TRANSACTIONS + 

Private payment app using Tongo

Confidential ERC20 transfers using ElGamal encryption and ZK proofs.

Shielded wallet UI

Deposit/withdraw/transfer flows using StarkWare SDK.

Privacy-first DeFi frontend

Private swaps, lending UIs.

 ZK PROOF VERIFICATION + 

Verify Noir proofs on Starknet

Build a ZK app in Noir, deploy verifier using Garaga.

Verify Circom/Groth16 proofs on Starknet

Port existing Circom circuits to Starknet verification.

 ONBOARDING AND IDENTITY + 

ZK social login dApp using Sumo Login

Onboard users with JWT proofs, no seed phrases.

BITCOIN TRACK

$9,675 + $5,500 in-kind

Create BTC-native DeFi leveraging Starknet's security.

Curated hacker ideas

HACKER IDEAS AND PRIZE NOTES +

PRIZES

$9,675 USD

paid in STRK tokens

+ $5,500 in-kind

$9,675 USD value, paid in STRK tokens + $5,500 in-kind Xverse API prizes (Pro Plan subscriptions, Bitcoin RPC access, and mentorship for the top 3 projects using Xverse).

SEE PRIZE BREAKDOWN

 YIELD & VAULTS + 

BTC yield vault

Intake BTC wrapper, borrow against it, deploy into stables, return yield.

Tokenized BTC yield representation

Create a token representing yield-bearing BTC position.

Vault curator/manager system

Curate and manage BTC vault strategies.

Leverage looping for BTC

Automated leverage strategies for BTC holders.

 PRIVATE BTC DEFI + 

Private BTC swap

Trade BTC without revealing amounts.

Private lending with BTC collateral

Borrow stables against BTC privately.

Private yield on BTC

Earn yield without revealing position size.

Private yield on stables

Earn yield on USDC privately.

 BTC PRIMITIVES + 

BTC-backed CDP

Mint stablecoins against BTC collateral.

BTC DCA (Dollar Cost Average) tool

Automated BTC purchases on Starknet.

BTC staking interface

Stake wrapped BTC and earn STRK.

 INFRASTRUCTURE + 

Cross-chain BTC bridge UI

Improved UX for bridging BTC to Starknet.

OPEN TRACK

$2,150

Build any innovative product on Starknet. Gaming, social, payments—surprise us with real use cases.

Curated hacker ideas

HACKER IDEAS AND PRIZE NOTES +

PRIZES

$2,150 USD

paid in STRK tokens

$2,150 USD value, paid in STRK tokens. Awarded to the best open-track project. Build anything on Starknet that impresses the judges.

SEE PRIZE BREAKDOWN

 IDEA SPARKS + 

Gaming

Social apps

Payments

Consumer apps

RWAs

Identity / reputation

Tooling for builders

Quick reference

All ideas at a glance

Every curated hacker idea in one place. Full descriptions in each track above or on the ideas page.

PRIVACY TRACK

· Implement Semaphore on Starknet
· Build Cairo verifiers for Sigma protocols
· Mental Poker implementation
· Anonymous credentials system
· Poker / card game with hidden hands
· Strategy game with fog of war
· Liar's poker or bluffing games
· Sealed-bid auction
· Dark pool / private orderbook
· Private prediction market
· Private voting system
· Private payment app using Tongo
· Shielded wallet UI
· Privacy-first DeFi frontend
· Verify Noir proofs on Starknet
· Verify Circom/Groth16 proofs on Starknet
· ZK social login dApp using Sumo Login

BITCOIN TRACK

· BTC yield vault
· Tokenized BTC yield representation
· Vault curator/manager system
· Leverage looping for BTC
· Private BTC swap
· Private lending with BTC collateral
· Private yield on BTC
· Private yield on stables
· BTC-backed CDP
· BTC DCA (Dollar Cost Average) tool
· BTC staking interface
· Cross-chain BTC bridge UI

OPEN TRACK

· Gaming
· Social apps
· Payments
· Consumer apps
· RWAs
· Identity / reputation
· Tooling for builders

View full ideas page

Social Proof

Builders Love Starknet Hackathons

What hackers love about our hackathons.

100% Virtual Up to $27K Total Prizes Open to All Levels Grant Pipeline

12+

Teams Funded

Projects Launched

500+

Builders Supported

Midatopay Team

Re{solve} Winners → $25K Seed Grant → SNF Accelerator

"Participating in the hackathon was a great experience—it allowed us to validate a real idea, learn a lot in a short amount of time, and connect with strong builders."

ChipiPay Team

Winter 2025 Winners → Growth Grant Recipients

"Challenge yourself and participate. You nurture your competitive spirit, spend time with an excellent group of developers, and learn to build fast and solve real-life problems."

Starkflow Team

Re{solve} Builders

"Starknet shows what's possible when you're building on infrastructure designed for real-world performance. The native mobile SDK support and built-in scaling made the difference."

David

zkbadge, Re{solve} Winner

"The event greatly expanded my grasp of Starknet's architecture and tooling. Winning was extremely satisfying—developing workable solutions on cutting-edge infrastructure."

Troves.fi AI Team

Re{solve} Winners

"I joined to experiment and push my limits, but left with way more than expected—real learning, great feedback, and an amazing builder community. Winning felt surreal."

Get Started

Resources and tooling

Start with the essentials, then go deeper with verified docs, SDKs, and support channels.

Developers

Starknet Academy

Complete Cairo and Starknet fundamentals

Free · Beginner-friendly · Available now

Visit Academy

Founders

Founder Basecamp

From idea to investor-ready pitch — watch at your own pace

Free · Bite-sized videos · Available now

Watch Playlist

Soon

Bitcoin on Starknet

Build trustless BTC bridges and OP_CAT apps

Soon

Privacy Development

Master ZK proofs and confidential transactions

Docs & tools index

Find what you need fast

Curated and verified by Starknet Foundation, StarkWare, and ecosystem partners.

 Core Documentation + 

Starknet Docs

Official Starknet developer documentation.

Cairo Book

Comprehensive Cairo language guide.

 OpenZeppelin Resources + 

OpenZeppelin Cairo Contracts

Battle-tested ERC20, ERC721, access control.

OpenZeppelin Cairo Docs

Full documentation.

Contracts Wizard for Cairo

Interactive smart contract generator.

 Privacy Tools + 

Starknet Privacy Toolkit

End-to-end reference: Tongo private donations + Noir/Garaga verified donor badges.

Tongo SDK - Quick Start

Confidential payments SDK by FAT Solutions.

Tongo Protocol Intro

How Tongo works (ElGamal + ZK).

Sumo Login

ZK social login for Starknet.

Sumo Login Website

Live demo and info.

Garaga Documentation

Verify Noir/Circom proofs on Starknet.

Garaga npm package

TypeScript SDK for Garaga.

scaffold-garaga

Noir + Garaga + Starknet starter template.

Semaphore Protocol

ZK anonymous signaling protocol (reference implementation).

Semaphore Docs

Technical documentation for Semaphore.

Semaphore Learn

Introduction to anonymous interactions.

 Bitcoin and DeFi Tools + 

LayerSwap Starknet Docs

LayerSwap Starknet integration documentation.

Atomiq Docs

Atomiq documentation for Bitcoin to Starknet bridge.

Garden Docs Quickstart

Garden SDK quickstart for bridging Bitcoin.

Vesu Developer Docs

Starknet's lending protocol documentation.

Vesu Getting Started

Start building on Vesu.

Vesu Contract Addresses

Deployed contract addresses.

Starknet Bitcoin DeFi

Overview of BTC DeFi on Starknet.

Starknet Staking

BTC and STRK staking guide.

Xverse Starknet Bridge

Bridge BTC to Starknet tutorial.

Xverse Starknet Wallet

BTC + Starknet wallet.

Ekubo Docs

Official Ekubo protocol and integration documentation.

 Development Frameworks + 

Scaffold-Stark

Starter template for Starknet dApps.

Scaffold-Stark Docs

Official documentation and guides.

StarknetKit

Wallet connection toolkit.

 Workshops (Video) + 

Privacy Preserving Apps Workshop

Re{solve} hackathon workshop.

ZK-SNARK Verification Workshop

Circom and Noir on Starknet.

 Community and Support + 

Expert Guidance

Mentors and Judges

More mentors and judges will be announced soon

Omar Espejel

Developer Advocate

Starknet Foundation

Technical Developer Advocate at Starknet Foundation focused on privacy tech and Monero <-> Starknet atomic swaps. Hackathon lead - send questions or suggestions to Omar Espejel; former StarkWare and Hugging Face AI engineer.

Henri

Ecosystem Lead

Starknet Foundation

Ecosystem Lead at Starknet Foundation with a 360-degree view of ecosystem needs and progress. Expert in blockchain governance, zero-knowledge proofs, validity rollups, and BTCFi integrations like tBTC vaults.

Akash Neelesh

Ecosystem Manager

StarkWare

Ecosystem Manager at StarkWare providing hands-on Cairo support and ZK proof optimization. Helps teams ship stronger DeFi, gaming, and BTCFi apps.

Benjamin Sturisky

Growth Team, DeFi Expert

Starknet Foundation

Growth Team Lead and DeFi expert at Starknet Foundation focused on incentives, tokenomics, and crypto infrastructure. Guides projects toward sustainable economic models and growth.

Teddy

Privacy Lead, Product Team

Starknet Foundation

Privacy Lead on the Product Team at Starknet Foundation building core privacy tooling. Expert in confidential computing, enabling private payments and ZK-based apps.

Adrien Lacombe

Bitcoin Lead, Product Team

Starknet Foundation

Bitcoin Lead on the Product Team at Starknet Foundation focused on BTC integrations and liquidity bridges. Works on trustless staking, BTCFi apps, and ZK-based scaling.

Jonathan Chang

Who can participate?

Anyone! Solo developers and teams up to 5 members. No geographic restrictions. All skill levels welcome.

Do I need to know Cairo?

Not required to start. We provide learning resources through Starknet Academy. Plus, AI tools like ChatGPT, Cursor, and Claude make writing high-quality Cairo extremely simple.

What happens to winners?

Winners can apply for seed grants up to $25K from the Starknet Foundation. Projects that continue growing successfully may qualify for additional growth grants.

Is it fully virtual?

Yes. Build at your own pace. Submit on DoraHacks by February 28, 2026.

How do I submit my project?

All submissions via DoraHacks platform—include GitHub repo, demo video (≤3 min), and Starknet deployment link. Deadline: Feb 28, 2026, 23:59 UTC.

What if I have questions during the hack?

Join our Telegram group (t.me/+-5zNW47GSdQ1ZDkx) and ask your questions there. Our mentors and community are ready to help!

How are prizes paid out?

Monetary prizes total $21,500 USD value, distributed in STRK tokens within 60 days. Privacy: $9,675. Bitcoin: $9,675. Open: $2,150. All amounts are in USD; you receive the equivalent value in STRK tokens. Bitcoin track also has $5,500 in-kind Xverse API prizes (subscriptions and services, not cash). Important: Sponsors may award $0 if no submission meets quality standards. Taxes are your responsibility. See full rules on DoraHacks.

Ready to Build?

Join the 2026 Bitcoin & Privacy Hackathon. 4 weeks. Up to $27,000 total prizes ($21,500 USD + $5,500 in-kind).

February 1 – February 28, 2026 · Fully Virtual