hackathon · online

Crypto World's Fair (Colosseum)

When it actually closes

Safe cutoff

official rules s.5

Stated: “11:59pm PT, October 12, 2026”
Printed zone: PT
IANA zone: America/Los_Angeles
UTC: 2026-10-13T06:59:00Z
Your time: Tue Oct 13, 6:59 AM UTC (loading your time zone…)

Prizes

Crypto prizes, not cash

From Rules section 14, with all values stated before tax: - Main awards: Grand Champion $30,000; Public Goods Award $5,000; University Award $5,000; next 20 standout teams $15,000 each ($300,000). Main total $340,000. - $100,000 tracks, each split across 10 products: Solana (the page shows $10,000 each), Tempo, Hyperliquid (Hypercore/HyperEVM), Zcash. - $25,000 tracks, each split across 5 products: Ethereum L1, Base, Arbitrum, Robinhood Chain. - Grand total: $340k + $400k + $100k = $840,000.

Grand Champion
crypto
$30,000
Public Goods Award
crypto
$5,000
University Award
crypto
$5,000
Standout team award (20 teams)
crypto · ×20
$15,000
$100k track award — Solana, Tempo, Hyperliquid, Zcash (10 winners each)
crypto · ×40
$10,000
Requires integrating that track's chain; stacks with the main awards
$25k track award — Ethereum L1, Base, Arbitrum, Robinhood Chain (5 winners each)
crypto · ×20
$5,000
Requires integrating that track's chain; stacks with the main awards

Eligibility

Individuals: eligible

"age of majority ... or at least 18 years of age, whichever is older" (Rules s.3a). Exclusions cover only sanctioned countries and regions, sanctioned persons, and staff of Colosseum or sponsors. The US and Nevada are not excluded.

Checked for one adult entering alone from Nevada, USA. Rules can differ by country, so read the rule quoted here for where you live.

Entry cost

Free to enter

Payout

crypto

Paid in crypto, not by bank wire. The rules name the prizes as $30,000 in Phantom CASH stablecoin and $5,000 or $15,000 in CASH; the track prizes are presumably paid the same way. Payment goes to the team leader, who may need to set up a wallet address as the Administrator directs (section 15b).

Rights — what you give up

entrant-keeps

Entrants keep their IP, and the Administrator claims no ownership of submissions (Rules section 9). However, Colosseum owns any marketing materials ('Creative Materials') it makes about the contest, and these may include the entrant's name, likeness and content (section 10).

Gotchas

Payout is Phantom CASH stablecoin sent to a team-leader wallet, not USD by wire. Expect prize-acceptance paperwork plus sponsor or Administrator due diligence (KYC) before payment, and your own tax reporting.
This is a startup competition, not a code sprint. Judges weigh founder-market fit, go-to-market, traction and business viability heavily, and the FAQ says submissions are treated as a pitch to Colosseum's venture fund.
Very competitive: 6,740 builders already joined, and past events drew 1,500-2,900 projects. There are 83 cash slots in total, but most are track prizes that require integrating a specific chain.
Only work done Sep 14 to Oct 12, 2026 is judged. Prior development and pre-existing code must be disclosed, and misrepresenting it can mean disqualification or a ban.