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Midnight Hackathon
Partnered Hackathon
Event Description
Welcome to the Midnight Hackathon! Join us from July 17–19 for 48 hours of building, experimenting, and creating apps that put users back in control of their personal data.
Now that Midnight’s is up and running on mainnet, we are focusing on real-world utility. This is your opportunity to build on an active, privacy-first network designed to solve some of the internet's biggest security and data protection challenges.
No blockchain experience? No problem.
You don't need to be a web3 veteran to participate. Whether you're writing your very first lines of code or have built dozens of dApps, this hackathon is all about creative, practical ideas. Even a simple, straightforward app can have a massive impact when it’s built to protect everyday user privacy.
What’s new for this hackathon?
To keep things fresh, we've laid out some brand new project tracks to guide your builds. We’re also cooking up a massive surprise for the winners that we think you'll love.
Are you ready to build the future of digital privacy?
Who can attend?
Locations have different requirements for who can attend. This location is open to the following:
Schedule
Hackathon Schedule
| Day (ET) | PT | ET | UK | IST | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | 9:00 AM PT | 12:00 PM ET | 5:00 PM UK | 9:30 PM IST | Hacking Begins |
| Friday | 9:00 AM PT | 12:00 PM ET | 5:00 PM UK | 9:30 PM IST | Opening Ceremony |
| Friday | 2:00 PM PT | 5:00 PM ET | 10:00 PM UK | 2:30 AM IST | Careers in Web3 |
| Friday | 3:00 PM PT | 6:00 PM ET | 11:00 PM UK | 3:30 AM IST | Hackathons Are Product Competitions, Not Coding Competitions |
| Saturday | 7:00 AM PT | 10:00 AM ET | 3:00 PM UK | 7:30 PM IST | Build On Midnight w/ MidSkills |
| Saturday | 9:00 AM PT | 12:00 PM ET | 5:00 PM UK | 9:30 PM IST | Hack Your Way to a Web3 Internship |
| Sunday | 7:00 AM PT | 10:00 AM ET | 3:00 PM UK | 7:30 PM IST | Initial Submission due on Devpost |
| Sunday | 8:45 AM PT | 11:45 AM ET | 4:45 PM UK | 9:15 PM IST | Hacking Ends / Final Submission due on Devpost |
| Sunday | 9:00 AM PT | 12:00 PM ET | 5:00 PM UK | 9:30 PM IST | Closing Ceremony |
| Thursday | 9:00 AM PT | 12:00 PM ET | 5:00 PM UK | 9:30 PM IST | Final Winners Announced |
You can tune in to all of the workshops at the MLH Twitch channel!
Additional Information
Prize Tracks
Top 2 Overall Winners
Invitation to Interview for Internship & Elgato Steam Deck MK.2
The Top 2 Overall Winning teams will earn an invitation to interview with Midnight Foundation team for an internship in Fall 2026. If selected, you’ll have the opportunity to shape the future of Midnight’s products and bring new builders into the ecosystem.
AI Track
Arduino Tiny Machine Learning Kit
Build AI applications that process sensitive user data without ever exposing the underlying information to show us that building powerful, highly capable AI doesn't have to come at the cost of personal privacy.
DeFi Track
Tidbyt Gen 2 Smart Display
Design the next generation of decentralized financial tools that inherently protect user transaction histories, wallet balances, and proprietary trading strategies. Your challenge is to build confidential smart contracts on Midnight that keep sensitive financial data hidden from the public ledger while remaining mathematically verifiable.
Gaming Track
Retroid Pocket 4 (Retro Handheld Console)
Create engaging games where players enjoy verifiable outcomes and true ownership without exposing hidden in-game states or underlying competitive strategies. By utilizing Midnight, you can build a captivating web3 gaming experience where fair play is guaranteed by cryptography, and player data remains strictly confidential.
Best Beginner Hack
BenQ ScreenBar Monitor Light
Teams made up of >50% first-time hackers are eligible for this prize track.
Hacker Resources
Want to get a head start learning how to build on Midnight? Check out these resources.
- Midnight Academy - Learn the basics of blockchain, zero-knowledge proofs and privacy concepts so you can write smart contracts using Compact.
- Midnight for Developers - Curated resources like docs, example repos, and guides from the Midnight team.
- AI Inspiration for Midnight - Example apps, use cases, and prompts for building w/ Midnight on Lovable. You can adapt these ideas to your own AI tooling and flows!
- Join the Midnight Discord - We'll use the #mlh-hackers channel in the Midnight Discord to stay in touch throughout the event.
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