ETHOnline 2020: 17 Hackathon Project Ideas

Compound is sponsoring ETHGlobal’s Autumn 2020 event: ETHOnline. This virtual event features a global hackathon and learning sessions with leading innovators in the Ethereum community.

In addition to learning about the latest in ETH 2.0 and new EIPs, hackathon participants have the chance to compete for $125,000 worth of prizes. Compound has created three bounties to inspire hackers to innovate in DeFi.

Hackathon Bounties

These are the three bounties, totaling $5,500 in cUSDC prizes.

1. Most original project that uses Compound.js: $1,500 of cUSDC
2. Best Compound Governance tooling: $1,500 of cUSDC
3. Best proposed improvement to the Compound Protocol — $2,500 cUSDC

Let’s walk through some valid hackathon project ideas to get teams started building.

Compound.js Bounty

Compound.js is a JavaScript SDK for Ethereum and the Compound Protocol which supports Node.js and the web browser. It is a wrapper around Ethers.js. The bounty prize will go to the team that implements the SDK in their project with the most original DeFi use-case.

Hackathon Project Ideas:

• Build a simple, open source user interface with all Compound Protocol functions using Compound.js.
• Build a full stack application that sends users email and/or text message alerts when Compound Governance events occur. This project would double-count toward this bounty and the Governance tool bounty.
• Build an information and data visualization dashboard for the Compound Protocol interest rates over time. There are other metrics like supplies and borrows that can be included.
• Build a game where NFTs are awarded to Compound users based on accomplishing certain actions; for example, receive a “First Supply” NFT for each market on Compound, that users receive if they supply to those markets.
• Build a marketplace for delegated borrowing limits; for example, if a user has supplied 100 USDC to Compound but has borrowed nothing, they could “sell” their available borrowing ability on a marketplace to someone else.

Compound Governance Bounty

Compound Governance arrived earlier this year to fully decentralize the living, on-chain Compound Protocol. This new mechanism of community-led upgrades has created a new opportunity for innovation. The bounty prize will go to the team that creates the best Compound Governance related tool. The submission can be an application, SDK, API, or smart contract(s).

Hackathon Project Ideas:

• Build a COMP delegate tracker that shows where an address’ delegates came from over time.
• Create a novel system that rewards participation in Compound Governance. If this includes a protocol patch, it would double-count toward this bounty and the protocol improvement bounty.
• Create a full-stack, gas-less delegation or voting website for individuals or companies. See the final section of the ETHOnline Compound.js workshop video (source code is available on GitHub).
• Build a marketplace where delegates can offer rewards, or solicit payment, for representing COMP-holders in Compound Governance.
• Build tooling that lets users discuss, propose, or vote on governance issues through Twitter or other popular platforms for crypto users.
• Develop a system that makes it easier for the Compound community to coordinate governance actions; for example, where they could build a roadmap together, rather than discuss each proposal one at a time in a vacuum.

Compound Protocol Improvement Bounty

The Compound Protocol is a community-led Ethereum project. Any developer is able to make code changes that can ultimately be implemented through governance.

To jumpstart community contribution, a guide was created to walk developers through the process of creating a protocol change (A Walkthrough of Contributing to the Compound Protocol). The bounty prize will go to the team that creates and proposes the best improvement to the Compound Protocol.

Submissions for this bounty should aim to actually submit their proposal to Compound Governance for consideration, though doing so by the end of the hackathon period is not required.

As a bonus reward, proposals to Compound Governance may also request an additional success grant for the developer(s), paid out of protocol reserves.

Hackathon Project Ideas:

• Deploy a Comptroller optimization. Currently, the Comptroller contract is near the Ethereum contract size limit. A refactor of this contract could be beneficial for ongoing feature development. More specific details for this are outlined on the Compound Community Forum.
• Compound Protocol gas optimizations. Gas costs could be lowered with different implementations of core protocol functions.
• Interest rate model (IRM) changes. Each cToken contract has the ability to point to its own unique IRM. A handful of IRMs are used for the current set of cTokens, but this can be changed as the community sees fit. Creation of a brand new IRM could perhaps be something the community wants but does not know it yet.
• Experiment with adding support for new asset types — for example, interest rate markets for NFTs, indices of tokens, or real-world assets.
• Develop a complementary interest rate model or mechanism that enables supplying and/or borrowing at fixed interest rates.
• Implement supply caps for new cToken markets, so there is a maximum amount of supply allowed into the protocol.

Past Hackathon Winners and Runner Up Projects

Here are some bounty winners and notable projects from ETHGlobal hackathons in 2020. All of which included the Compound Protocol in their tech stack.

• DefiHedge — A decentralized protocol for fixed-rate borrowing & interest rates
• cChannels — A crypto “bar-tab” type of payment system that uses the Compound Protocol for interest and borrowing with ETH and DAI.
• Atomic Ninja — An atomic Ethereum transaction batcher with a drag-and-drop user interface for aggregating various DeFi systems.
• Medici — An interest-earning wallet for digital cash.
• Maximus — A community owned/governed version of MakerDAO that enables supplying/borrowing with Compound.
• tCDP — Automated movement of assets amongst DeFi protocols to avoid liquidation fears in over-collateralized borrowing.
• Defido2 — Hardware wallet CLI that has functions for DeFi, which include supplying ETH and DAI to Compound, as well as borrowing.
• NFWallets — A browser based wallet that enables users to utilize much of DeFi.
• Suicide Kings — A no-loss ERC1155 game where players vote to win interest generated with Compound.

Share Your Hackathon Ideas

ETHOnline is already underway. Teams are beginning to form and project ideas are being brainstormed. The Compound team is here to help. Join us in the #sponsor-compound channel of the ETHGlobal Discord or the #development channel of the Compound Discord.

We can help out with hack ideas, use cases, UI/UX, technical questions, code, and more. Be sure to check out the Compound Documentation for developer guides, contract addresses, and code examples.

Source code for projects are available in the Compound GitHub organization. Happy hacking and best of luck to the hackathon participants!