Three Reasons Why Telos Spark will be the Best EVM Hackathon
Calling all Solidity and C++ blockchain developers! The Telos Foundation is proud to announce Telos Spark, our Telos EVM Hackathon.
Telos Spark is a virtual event that will take place between the 6th of February and the 6th of March. You can register to start right up until the last day of the Hackathon and will accept submissions up until the final day.
Project shortlist and final selection will occur between 7th of March at 00:00 am EST and 11th of March at 23:59 am EST. The 10 shortlisted projects will get the chance to directly present their results to the Jury. Winners will be announced on the 14th of March.
The Telos EVM is about to become your new best friend. In this article, we will outline three key reasons why you should take part in our upcoming Hackathon.
Looking for more details about the Telos EVM Hackathon? You can watch a recording of our most recent Telos Tuesday to hear from Douglas Horn, Jesse Schulman, and TJ from OmniDex.
Let’s jump in!
Reason One: The superior-tech of the Telos EVM.
The first reason why the Telos EVM Hackathon will be the best around is easy to explain. The Telos Core Devs have created such a powerful tool in the Telos EVM, and they want to see it used well.
The Telos EVM, or Ethereum Virtual Machine, essentially acts as a translator that runs Solidity code on the lightning-fast and efficient Telos blockchain. This gives Ethereum-based applications access to a much more scalable and powerful chain.
And that visibility began, some say, with the launch of OmniDex, the first native DEX on the Telos EVM.
“Omnidex and all the other apps that are arriving without us building or even soliciting it is a testament to the reason we created the EVM,” said Jesse Schulman, Telos Core Developer Lead. “I think people have realized it is the leader. It’s got half-second block times and no front running, and now people have seen it and used it.”
Imagine what you could build with specs like that: two blocks are created every second, which stops front-running in its tracks. DeFi platforms can run as they were intended to run, as one example. A whole world of possibilities opens up with the superior technology of the Telos EVM.
“The Telos EVM right now is essentially this awesome city of the future with all the roads in and the buildings and everything,” explains Telos’ Chief Architect and Core Dev Douglas Horn. “But anyone who has deployed something successfully to Ethereum or BSC or any of these other chains is going to be able to do exactly the same thing in exactly the same way on the Telos EVM. They will just be shocked that it uploads faster, and only costs you a couple of dollars for deploying the contract instead of tens of thousands on Ethereum.”
Telos Spark presents an incredible opportunity to push the leading Ethereum Virtual Machine to its full potential. With that opportunity comes the need for resources, mentorship, and documentation. Thankfully, the Telos EVM Hackathon provides all of that support in a structured way.
Reason Two: Building on the Telos EVM is easy as can be.
The second reason why the Telos Spark hackathon will blow developers away is because of the ease of building on the Telos EVM. From the documentation, direct support, and developer resources, the Telos EVM is as developer-friendly as can be.
Schulman lists off a number of resources that make building easy and accessible, including a Telos EVM testnet faucet. The faucet allows developers to test and deploy smart contracts without having to pay for mainnet tokens.
Other developer resources and documentation for the Telos EVM are currently stored in a publicly accessible online repository. But the Telos Core Devs know that development often requires direct access to other developers, and have opened their doors accordingly.
“Anytime you have any questions, you can hop in our Telegram chats,” said Schulman. “We’ve got different folks there pretty much 24/7 ready to help, or find the people that know the answers to help.”
Some of those groups include the Telos dApp Development Group. Although the main Telos Community chat often sees messages and responses from Core Developers as well.
Telos Spark coalesces these different supports into one structured package. “This is an open call to build,” said Horn. “We’re going to mentor you if you need. We’re going to provide you with code resources, we’re going to provide a prize. For those that get done, we’re going to help support whatever the next phases of your development are so that these things can get out there.”
That support, as we’ve noted, includes all the steps in the development process. But what happens once you’ve built your dApp on the Telos EVM? That’s where the third reason why Telos Spark is the best place to develop the next killer dApp — the strength of the Telos community.
Reason Three: The Telos community is waiting!
The third reason why the Telos EVM Hackathon will be the best around is probably the most critical. Developing a killer dApp relies upon superior technology and strong smart contracts.
However, the ability to build and sustain a community of users is needed to create a truly sustainable project. Telos Spark presents developers with the opportunity to build a project that will be quickly adapted by the Telos community.
And with a strong community comes the chance to build a project that endures beyond the limits of a hackathon.
“Most other hackathons, in my view, they’re for winning a prize, not for building a project,” explains Horn. “I would look at this as a way to deploy a real business. To follow the OmniDex business model of cranking something out that’s needed, building a community around it, expanding your team through the community, building value, and being the next TJ.”
TJ explained in past articles about the support and encouragement he received from the Telos community. His project, OmniDex, grew out of the Dougecoin community, which was the first meme coin launched on the Telos EVM. TJ’s immense success in Telos is a testament to the strength and support of the Telos community.
There are so many firsts available for development on the Telos EVM. What are some of those opportunities? “Bringing in more apps that people are familiar with, like lending and staking,” lists Schulman. “But also NFT, platforms, multisig tools, some Gnosis safe type-functionality for people. Anything that’s contributing to the EVM ecosystem’s growth is the focus for the hackathon.”
TJ has similar advice for those interested in Telos Spark: just come and build. “I’d say you’re going to get stuck on the way, you’re going to hit some brick walls. But if you get stuck, just sleep on it and just keep cracking at it. But something will come out, and you will actually have a product at the end.”
And then, the Telos community awaits.
Conclusion: Telos Spark details will be available soon!
We hope you enjoyed reading about the top three reasons why Telos Spark, the Telos EVM hackathon, will be the best place for blockchain developers. The superior technology of the Telos EVM, the developer resources, and strong Telos community all reinforce each other.
If you’re considering entering Telos Spark, remember that Telos Spark is a virtual event that will take place between the 6th of February and the 6th of March. You can register to start right up until the last day of the Hackathon and will accept submissions up until the final day.
Project shortlist and final selection will occur between 7th of March at 00:00 am EST and 11th of March at 23:59 am EST. The 10 shortlisted projects will get the chance to directly present their results to the Jury. Winners will be announced on the 14th of March.
And if you’re looking for more perspectives from some of the Telos Core Developers about the Telos Spark, you can watch a recording of our most recent Telos Tuesday here.
We can’t wait to see what you’ll build. And we’re here to support the incredible Telos EVM tools and dApps that we know you’re capable of building!
