What is The Open League Hackathon?

Welcome to The Open League Hackathon, organized by the TON Foundation and The Open League program. This hackathon marks a unique point in the development of the TON ecosystem, the beginning of exponential growth.

The Open League Hackathon The Open League Hackathon gives any innovative project a fast track to massive rewards for your team and users and viral growth in Telegram.

The total prize fund of $2,280,000.

To take part, teams will need to build for TON mainnet or if bridging over projects, build a new model tailored for the TON ecosystem in a Telegram Mini App.

Below are the objectives of The Open League Hackathon:

• Find more dapps with creative, simple, and viral token mining mechanisms that can attract new users like Notcoin, Catizen and Pixels
• Find dapps with that appeal to a mass audience, TON is a blockchain for everyone. Where complexity dies and simplicity thrives. We’re looking for teams building mini-apps that integrate web3 features seamlessly and appeal to everyone.
• Recruit proven dapps from other blockchains who want to leverage TON, Telegram, and The Open League to attract millions of users.
• Recruit proven mini-apps developers and teams from other SuperApps that want to integrate web3 features and leverage TON, Telegram, and The Open League to attract millions of users.

What you’ll get:

• 8-weeks to onboard, learn, and build on TON
• In-person sessions in strategic locations all over the world with our Buidl Partners for an opportunity to code together, share ideas, and network with the local TON builder community
• Fast track into The Open League competition, with it’s own $15 million project prize pool and 50,000 Toncoin boost of your project’s liqudity pool.
• A chance to win a share of the $2 million prize pool
• Fast track into TON Accelerator and pre-seed investment of up to $150,000
• $240,000 in total Telegram Ads
• Fast track to additional grants
• Chance to present their project at TON’s yearly Gateway conference in Dubai in November

Hackathon participants should consider each one of the stages of onboarding: How is the project enabling users to earn free tokens simply and easily in Telegram? What are the referral mechanics so new users can share the project with their friends? Does the project have step-by-step onboarding into their products so users can learn to use them by exploring? What incentives should they provide to make their liquidity pools the most attractive to traders?

It's crucial for projects participating in The Open League Hackathon to consider the implementation of their own token within the TON ecosystem, as we are keen on stimulating liquidity pools and offering financial rewards to those who provide liquidity. This approach is designed to enhance the project's ecosystem by ensuring better liquidity management and incentivizing user participation through rewards.

Think you can beat the competition? It’s Time to Build on TON.

13 IRL Bootcamps

The Open League Summer is our largest IRL experience, hosted under The Open League umbrella, focused on talented developers within the TON Ecosystem. Together with TON Society we prepared a $5,000 prize pool for each bootcamp in addition to the $2,000,000 Hackathon prize pool. On top of that, you can look forward to meeting the TON Foundation and TON Society teams, networking with fellow TON supporters, and building relationships that help you grow.

Bootcamps begin May 24th and will meet you at 13 locations over the following two weeks.

May 24th-26th: Prague, Moscow, and Hong Kong
May 31st-June 2nd: Warsaw, St. Petersburg, Taipei, and Soul
June 7th-9th: Berlin, Kyiv, Tbilisi, Belgrade, Gurugam, and Minsk

Register now: https://society.ton.org/activities/open-league

What is The Open League?

The Open League is a large initiative launched by the TON Foundation with an aim of building and enhancing the ecosystem. It includes: Ecosystem projects contests Project & tokens metrics leaderboards Hackathons Grants Events

The Open League's pilot season led to 70% growth in DEX TVL (Total Value Locked) and 370% in daily active wallets. In just 2 weeks. Now it’s time to double down. The first full season of The Open League is here. Starting April 1st, over 3 months, TON Foundation will distribute 30 million Toncoin, roughly equivalent to $160 million.

The Open League program is not just a competition where projects compete to win Toncoin. It’s also an onboarding system. Our incentives mechanics will help us distribute all that Toncoin and show the simple conversion path from humble Telegram user to on-chain CHAD.

Read more about the Open League Season 1 here.

Hackers Chats

Telegram chat

Schedule

Prize Fund

The total prize fund of $2,280,000 includes:

• $420,000 for Winners: Divided among 24 winning teams, focusing on innovation and impact.
• Telegram Ads: $240,000 in total to boost project visibility for all 24 winning teams through targeted Telegram Ads.
• Liquidity Pool Boost: The top 3 projects selected to join The Open League will receive 150,000 Toncoin for liquidity boosts, valued at approximately $810,000.
• Accelerator Funding: Top projects may secure funding from a $500,000 pool provided by TON Ventures, ensuring further development and scaling opportunities.
• Additional Rewards: After joining The Open League, the top three projects will receive an additional $150,000 in rewards, with $50,000 going to each team.
• More Telegram Ads: An extra $120,000 in Telegram Ads will be allocated specifically to the top three winners in The Open League for even greater exposure.
• KuCoin Prizes: 4 additional prize spots, each offering $5,000 in Toncoins and $5,000 in Telegram ads.

These prizes aim to not only reward exceptional projects but also to provide substantial support and exposure to ensure continued growth and success within the TON ecosystem. Each winner not only gains financial backing but also significant promotional and developmental resources, accelerating their journey in the competitive blockchain space.

Tracks

Onboarding systems and games: Telegram Mini Apps (TMA)

TON has already become home to 2 of the largest onboarding systems in crypto Notcoin and Community Bot, with Catizen and Pixels fast growing to play that role. We are looking for more projects that can build systems that onboard new users to crypto easily, simply with built-in referral mechanics and native incentive mechanisms.

• Learn the Notcoin playbook and innovate on the tap-2-earn model
• Build quest platforms on TON that help users onboard easily to crypto
• Social games with viral mechanics and features like sharing with friends, leaderboards, group challenges, and notifications.

Social Web3 Use Cases inside Telegram: Telegram Mini Apps (TMA)

Social B2C applications inside Telegram with a clear vision of how to achieve virality and retain the user.

This category includes but is not limited to:

• SocialFi: TMA that helps creators monetize their social media content (e.g., FriendTech-like cases or a tool that helps crypto channel owners earn on sharing successful trades/new token launches)
• Community & Brand management: tools aimed at engaging communities inside Telegram (e.g., Loyalty programs, Ticketing)

DeFi

In this track, we aim to enhance the DeFi space within the TON & Telegram ecosystems, focusing on:

• New DeFi Strategies & Use Cases: Seeking innovations that improve the DeFi landscape, particularly in lending protocols.
• Beginner-Friendly Products: Projects must be accessible, with simple UX/UI and clear onboarding to welcome newcomers.
• Advanced Features for DeFi Veterans: Also catering to experienced users with complex DeFi strategies and tools.
• Seamless Integration with TON: Utilizing TON for transactions, bridging traditional finance and DeFi for Telegram users.

By combining accessibility for new users and depth for experienced ones, projects should leverage Telegram Mini Apps to provide secure and permissionless financial services, promoting financial freedom and inclusivity.

eCommerce: Telegram Mini Apps (TMA)

Most people spend time shopping online, making it one of the most mass-audience use cases there is. Telegram and TON need more shopping apps that are Web3-enabled redistributing value to users.

• No code tools for shop builders in Telegram, fully integrated with TON out of the box - like Shopify but in a mini-app
• 2 sided marketplaces

Prize Pool

Onboarding Systems and Games

• Objective: To stimulate the development of viral and gaming applications with financial mechanics on the TON blockchain, including the use of NFTs and social mechanics.
• Prizes Amount: $75,000
  • First Place: $35,000
  • Second Place: $25,000
  • Third Place: $15,000

Web3 Social

• Objective: To drive the development of Web3-based social applications inside Telegram using Telegram Mini Apps.
• Prizes Amount: $75,000
  • First Place: $35,000
  • Second Place: $25,000
  • Third Place: $15,000

DeFi

• Objective: To encourage the development of solutions aimed at improving TON's enriching the DeFi ecosystem.
• Prizes Amount: $75,000
  • First Place: $35,000
  • Second Place: $25,000
  • Third Place: $15,000

Crypto-enabled eCommerce

• Objective: To drive the development of Web3-enabled eCommerce applications on TON and Telegram
• Prizes Amount: $75,000
  • First Place: $35,000
  • Second Place: $25,000
  • Third Place: $15,000

Outside of the prize pool, the winners will receive fast-track for grants, ecosystem fund investment opportunities, and an opportunity in November to present their project at the Gateway conference in Dubai, connecting directly with the TON Foundation and investors

Boost Your Project with Telegram Ads

In addition to the extensive prize pool, winners of the hackathon will be granted an exceptional opportunity to boost their project's visibility and engagement through Telegram Ads, with an allocation of up to $10,000 per winner for this purpose, totaling $120,000 for Telegram Ads. This unique chance enables the top projects to reach a broader audience within the Telegram ecosystem, significantly enhancing their potential user base and stakeholder interest. By leveraging the power of Telegram Ads, winning teams will be able to showcase their innovative solutions to millions, tapping into Telegram's vast and dynamic community, thus accelerating their growth and adoption in the post-hackathon phase.

Winners Selection

We select 50 semifinalists based on the completeness of their DoraHack page: the quality of the project demo, the thoroughness of the description, and so on. 15 semifinalists will be chosen from projects started at the bootcamps, and the remaining 35 will be selected from the online hackathon. From these, 24 finalists will be chosen to present their projects in a live-streamed session with judges. At the end of this stage, 12 winners will be selected. The final of our hackathon will take place online, with our jury panel watching. Teams will show their projects, followed by a Q&A session with the judges. Results will be announced a few days later, giving the judges time to make good decisions. This stage is important not only for winning but also for possible future grants and investments. Good luck to all participants!

The judges will select up to 100 semifinalists: 30 from the bootcamp teams and 70 from the online hackathon.

Timeline:

• July 10: Announcement of 100 semi-finalists
• July 17: 24 finalists are announced and 4 KuCoin prize winners
• July 19-20: 24 finalists pitch their projects
• July 21: Announcement of 12 winners

Entry Requirements

• Your project must not be included in the ecosystem map as we strive to encourage the creation of new teams and projects
• The project must be submitted on June 15th at the latest.
• Projects are built for the TON ecosystem and in Tact or FunC languages
• Every project must build a Telegram Mini-App as its main surface
• Teams can close-source GitHub repo during the hackathon, but are required to open-source after the last day of BUIDL submission deadline. Teams can opt for open-source under BSL 1.1, which stipulates that the codes cannot be used for commercial purposes by other parties
• dApp must support TON Connect standard
• Entrants undertake to submit projects that do not violate relevant laws and regulations, infringe any intellectual property or other rights of any third parties, or will otherwise be disqualified
• Teams must be online and in attendance during the award announcement to win a prize

What Next: The Open League Hackathon Leaderboard (1 Month)

Three winning projects with tokens on the TON mainnet from each track will join The Open League program and be included on a special Hackathon Leaderboard. The Open League Hackathon Leaderboard is a one-month KPI competition focused on the performance of each project's token.

The top three projects of The Open League Hackathon Leaderboard will share a $150,000 prize pool, $120,000 Telegram Ads, and fast-track access to the Major Token Leaderboard, along with up to 50,000 Toncoin as rewards for liquidity providers for each project.