Developing real-world use cases for NFTs: Techweek 2021 hackathon
We are still riding high from the fantastic events of techweek 2021. The CENNZnet team were right amongst it this year hosting workshops and setting up CENNZnet environments for budding DApp devs. But the big event of the week was without a doubt our dramatic 48-hour hackathon where we saw the creation of some of the coolest NFT ideas on the block.
We were blown away by the enthusiasm for all things blockchain from the NZ tech community and are super excited about the potential of our hackathon teams to start implementing world-changing NFT solutions on the CENNZnet chain!
Here’s a rundown of the hackathon challenge and a sum up of our prize-winning solutions.
The Hackathon Challenge
The task at hand was broad, leaving plenty of room for teams to be creative and also target their own passions. They were challenged to use the CENNZnet NFT module to build a DApp or integrate them with an existing service. For example, they could build:
- A game where NFTs are created and owned by players (see the infamous https://www.cryptokitties.co/)
- A certificate issuance platform
- Custom skins or emojis represented as NFTs
Our panel of judges scored each submission according to the following criteria:
- Quality of the Idea (Includes creativity and originality of the idea.)
- Implementation of the Idea (Includes how well CENNZnet was leveraged in the solution.)
- Potential Impact (Includes the extent to which the solution can be widely useful.)
In first place: Team Raize
Congratulations to our overall winner, team Raize! Raize successfully created an NFT structure to tokenise software deals and app perks to attract new users and create lifetime loyalty.
Mobile apps are expected to generate $935 billion in revenue by 2023, but it is getting ever harder for new companies to cut through all the noise and acquire new users. Raize aims to solve this by allowing companies to create exclusive early adopter deals for new customers. Raize’s solution was simple: to allow companies to raise funds and acquire new users while also creating an infrastructure for buyers to resell their software. As a unique asset with a provable line of ownership, NFTs provided Raize with the perfect vehicle for this process.
Using Raize’s platform, new users can buy an NFT which gives them license codes to software deals such as lifetime access or certain feature upgrades. Users can also sell on their software access at a later date when the value of the company has risen. To do so they simply sell their NFT using the Raize marketplace.
In this vision, there are benefits for everyone. Companies get:
- Early cash flow
- Exposure to new users
- Programmed royalties from future NFT sales
Buyers get:
- Exclusive software deals
- Easy, fast way to sell on valuable software access
Awesome work on a super creative idea, with serious real-world business potential.
Second place: Team De-Trax
In a strong second place was team De-Trax. De-Trax saw a use for NFTs in definitively ascribing ownership of electronic products. This would allow for the creation of an efficient and accessible blacklist record to mark stolen goods, alongside the potential to help track goods through a supply chain.
So how does it work?
- When purchasing an electronic device or registering it as yours, you use the De-Trax app to create an NFT symbolising your digital ownership of the product. The NFT would contain certain unique information about the product such as a serial number.
- When you chose to sell this product, either as an individual or through a supply chain, the ownership NFT is transferred to the new owner.
- If a product is stolen at any point, the owner can transfer its NFT to a wallet that registers the item as a stolen good on a decentralised registry.
There are several significant benefits to De-Trax’s idea:
- It allows authorities and individuals to easily verify whether items are stolen goods. All they have to do is check the decentralised registry.
- When an electronic item you own is stolen, by transferring your associated NFT to the blacklist registry, it could automatically notify the relevant parties such as insurance and police, therefore significantly streamlining the process for individuals.
Joint third place: Team Jubilee
We had a tie for our third place this year, with two fantastic teams showcasing equally great ideas and implementation.
Team Jubillee stood out from the crowd as the only team brave enough to delve into smart contracts in the short 48-hour window. Using smart contracts they created a way to privately store information on the blockchain as NFTs, so sensitive information could essentially be privately locked onto the blockchain for a set amount of time and only revealed when this time is up.
The example they chose to demonstrate their idea was that of a decentralised yearbook. A group of school friends could pick out some photos or digital memories and upload them onto the blockchain as NFTs. They could then lock these NFTs away from view for 10 years. When 10 years is up the friends could enjoy their memories afresh as they won’t have been able to see them for the interceding decade.
This idea can be used with all sorts of information, such as wills or time-sensitive legal documents.
Joint third place: Team Sendimint
Our next third-place team wowed the judges with a way to make NFTs shareable as well as community-focused. For team Sendimint music, art, and tech have always been about celebrating life and human connection, and less about making money. With this in mind, they set out to build a platform where anyone can easily create NFT’s directly from their phone camera and not only mint and sell, but gift NFT’s to friends, family, and peers.
The team identified the following problems with the current NFT marketing place:
- Complications around ownership: Big social media companies have confusing and complicated licensing terms to posted content that the general public struggles to understand and are just about forced to accept to use the platform
- Focus on profits not creativity: Current platforms are based on a market focused on making money and not celebrating creativity.
- Lack of mainstream awareness: Current platforms are based on a market focused on making money and not celebrating creativity.
- Multi-step process requiring more than one platform: Existing platforms are browser-based, require multiple steps across several applications, and more often than not are targeted to a specific niche audience.
The solution…
A fully mobile platform that streamlines minting and sharing NFTs with friends & followers:
- Creator certainty: By minting on capture and upload, users are ensured they have NFT ownership over the assets digital lifespan
- Humanising IP: We prioritise sharing creative works, personal photographs and sentimental memories without the pressures of being marketed a sale
- Made for everyone: Sendimint focuses on sharing and consumption, making the platform social-first and doesn’t require any experience with cryptocurrency, NFTs or blockchain technology, making adoptions effortless
- One stop shop: We allow creators to mint, upload, share and sell their creations in one simple app.
Commendation: Team SupplyChains
Not an official placer but commended by our judging panel was team Supply Chain. As the name suggests team SupplyChain’s focus was ironing out some of the many issues of verification in supply chains. Specifically, they were concerned with verifying the authenticity of valuable products such as Manuka honey when sold on the global market.
The team impressed the judges with their use of the Doughnut protocol for their authentication solution. This protocol allows individuals or entities to delegate the ability to mint or use their tokens. It’s a powerful tool for users of DApps but one which team Supply Chain has put to use for authentication.
How does their solution work?
- An authorised and trusted entity (such as the Manuka Honey Association) has the authority to mint NFTs which establish that a product is genuine Manuka honey.
- The trusted entity uses the Doughnut protocol to delegate the minting of a set number of NFT tokens to other companies. For example, a certified Manuka Honey producer can be given the delegated authority to mint a certain number of Manuka Honey NFTs to authorise their latest batch.
- The authorised company can then mint these official NFTs and also imbed them with data which further establishes the value of the product. For example the GPS location of hives or purity readings of the honey.
- When the honey is then sold, buyers can easily check the authenticity of the product by checking its associated NFTs.
The interesting aspect of team Supply Chain’s solution is that by using the Doughnut protocol, they ensure that the NFT denotes product authenticity. Someone cannot simply mint their own Manuka Honey NFTs, the authenticity is only verified if they can see the NFTs have been delegated by the Manuka Honey Association.
Team Memeconomy — making our very own NFT marketplace
Team Memeconomy didn’t officially place but their technical implementation was so good that we gave them the grant to finish their project for CENNZnet.
In just 48 hours this team managed to put together the frameworks for CENNZnet’s very own NFT marketplace. It would allow artists, companies or creators to mint their own NFTs and then list or trade them for auction or fixed price sale on CENNZnet.
NFTs are coming!
Congratulations to all of the teams who joined us at techweek 2021! We were so impressed by the passion and creativity showcased and we look forward to seeing many of your ideas go live.
The future certainly looks exciting for NFTs and the hackathon has highlighted just how many opportunities there are for NFTs in the real world.
Want to get stuck in and try your own NFT idea? Learn more about the CENNZnet NFT module and how you can start minting here.
