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How Buidl Battle Created 100 New Bitcoin Innovations
Bitcoin’s ecosystem thrives when builders innovate—but uniting developers across continents and time zones is easier said than done.

Buidl Battle, a three-week competition, addressed this challenge by bringing together Bitcoin and Stacks developers to ship transformative projects.

Organized around four themes shaping Bitcoin’s future—DeFi, the 3.0 digital economy, infra and developer tooling, and NFTs/Ordinals—this event wasn’t just a hackathon. It was a launchpad for protocols, apps, and tools that will shape Bitcoin's new economy.

Thanks to our amazing partners, builders were awarded with:
  • $90K in prizes to accelerate ideas
  • Fast-track opportunities with top VCs and accelerators
  • Meaningful connections with leaders in the space

Key outcomes (by the numbers)

When the virtual dust settled, the results exceeded expectations and highligts the growing interest builders have in shaping Bitcoin's future.

  • 425 registered participants
  • 220 active builders throughout the event
  • Nearly 100 completed project submissions
  • Participants from across the global Bitcoin and Stacks ecosystem
  • Two intensive judging rounds
  • A final showdown judged by Bitcoin VCs

Meet the projects

Buidl Battle surfaced creative solutions across all themes, with standout projects demonstrating the potential of the Bitcoin and Stacks ecosystem:

Bitcoin DeFi Champions
  • BigMarket – A Bitcoin-native, AI-powered prediction market that earned 2nd place overall
  • BitForward – NFT-backed forward contracts using Bitcoin as collateral, securing 3rd place in the finals

Digital Economy Breakthroughs
  • KultureFun – Token-gated wallet chat and ad channel with DAO governance
  • Skullcoin – Gamification layer for Bitcoin DeFi

Real World NFT Solutions

Tooling & Infrastructure Innovations
  • Blaze Protocol – A scaling protocol for fast off-chain transfers with secure onchain settlement, which claimed the 1st place prize
  • PoX Agents – Conversational interface for blockchain operations

Partner Challenge Winners
  • ckBoost – Reduced confirmation times to 15 minutes while rewarding liquidity providers (4th place overall)
  • CounterParty ICP – API for retrieving asset information related to the Counterparty
  • StacksAI – AI-powered Clarity contract generator leveraging AWS Bedrock

Wildcard Winner
  • Bolt Protocol – Enabling users to pay transaction fees with sBTC and supporting instant transfers between Bolt Wallets

Honorable Mentions
Several talented builders created projects also ranked very well on the judge scorecards, including AutoStacks, Claride, Clari AI, Stacks Brain, Creator's Web3 Economy, Bitcoin Loan Bank, TipCloud, and Kraxel.

Meet all of the teams that had eligible submissions for Buidl Battle from the DoraHacks page.

Winning team: Blaze Protocol

Blaze Protocol took top honors by tackling a critical challenge: making Bitcoin infrastructure feel effortless. Their solution simplifies scalability for apps on Bitcoin and Stacks, focusing on user experience—think instant transactions and gas fees that work in the background. Judges praised the team’s practical approach: “They didn’t just theorize about scaling; they built something people could actually use without needing a crypto manual.”

Community impact

While teams delivered impressive technical work, the lasting impact comes from the connections made within the broader ecosystem. Developers working solo found collaborators. Mentors spotted fresh talent. And everyone saw firsthand what happens when Bitcoin builders get proper support.

Why the structure worked:
  • Themed rounds kept focus on Bitcoin’s biggest opportunities
  • Partner challenges pushed builders to solve real industry needs
  • Wildcard entries gave under-the-radar ideas a shot

What’s next for Buidl Battle projects:
  • Mentorship: Teams will refine their work with ecosystem veterans
  • Funding: Top projects get fast-tracked to investor networks
  • Integration: Partner pipelines to turn prototypes into live products

“This wasn’t just a hackathon—it became our launchpad.”
– Buidl Battle participant

"The quality of the submissions in this hackathon are off the charts! Huge congratulations to all the builders!"
– Buidl Battle judge


Start building

Whether you’re an early-stage dev exploring Bitcoin for the first time or a seasoned founder ready to scale, the Stacks ecosystem is built to support your journey.

  • Code for Stacks: Every month, builders have the opportunity to participate and win thousands of STX tokens, simply for writing and submitting your code.
  • Stacks Ascent: Offers a fast track route to showcasing your Proof of Work as a builder, with opportunities for growth, community integration, and funding.
  • Bitcoin 25 Virtual Hackathon: If you're already missing the pressure of building in a fun, hackathon environment, you can join the Bitcoin '25 virtual hackathon, which is now live and runs until the 20th of May.