MIAMI BEACH, FL — The atmosphere at the EasyA Hackathon held within Consensus Miami 2026 felt less like a traditional cryptocurrency developer event and more like a live audition for the next generation of blockchain and AI-native startups.
Nearly 1,000 developers competed at the venue, some from established crypto ecosystems like Base and Solana, others from companies like Microsoft and Google, all vying to build products around a theme that kept popping up in conversations: artificial intelligence agents.
A focus on AI agents already emerged at the EasyA x Consensus Hong Kong hackathon earlier this year, with organizers describing 2026 as the “year of the application layer” as developers increasingly move from infrastructure tools to AI-driven consumer applications and autonomous agents.
For EasyA co-founders brothers Dom and Philip Kwok, evolution is the point. What started as a small hackathon series held in Austin, Texas during Consensus 2023 quickly transformed into one of the most watched cryptocurrency developer gatherings, attracting passionate young developers as well as a growing number of teams with strictly technical backgrounds.
Their ambitions for the event were simple. “We want EasyA to birth a multi-billion dollar company,” Dom Kwok said in an interview with CoinDesk at the hackathon. “In our other hackathons, we’ve had a $10 billion company.”
This success story has become part of EasyA lore. The Harvard team that participated in the EasyA event later founded “Cognitive Artificial Intelligence,” a project that the Kuoks say is currently valued at about $10 billion. Another former participant, Axal, is building a stablecoin yield product backed by Bitcoin.
Other alumni have also reportedly raised money from top venture capital firms and processed hundreds of millions of deals through Y Combinator. The message to developers at the Miami event was clear: This is no longer just a days-long coding competition, it’s increasingly seen as a launch pad for venture-scale companies.
This year, however, the focus has undoubtedly shifted to agent AI. Coinbase sponsored the challenge around x402, an emerging framework that developers are experimenting with for AI agent payments and interactions, while Solana and Solana Mobile pushed teams toward mobile-first apps and consumer experiences.
“Many developers [are] Dom said he’s very excited about AI agent workloads, noting the recent influx of venture capital into AI agent infrastructure startups.
Some of the projects already circulating around the venue reflect the extent to which builders are expanding the category. A team called Praxis is working on blockchain-connected drones that can be controlled via smartphones, which the brothers describe as “the next Palantir on the blockchain.” Another startup is developing what they call “super-smart AI,” software designed to convert text prompts into physical 3D objects. “You can type in a prompt and say, ‘Build me a microscope,’ and it will actually build it for you,” Phil said. “This is like the next stage in taking ChatGPT from informational content to concrete content.”
Winner:
The judges rewarded projects that push AI agents beyond chatbots and into real-world coordination, automation and commerce, whether through hardware, payment infrastructure or consumer-facing applications. Across the different sponsor tracks, the winning teams reflected the broader shift taking place at this year’s hackathon: Developers are no longer just building cryptographic tools, they’re building products that are used every day. Awards vary for each track and are still pending on how the awards will be distributed in each category.
Launch Track ($50,000):
First place: FlyPraxis
First on the Kickstart track is FlyPraxis, a real-time drone intelligence platform designed for military operators. The team positions the project as “Palantir, but in real time,” leveraging AI-driven coordination and real-time battlefield intelligence to manage autonomous drone systems.
Second place: HIIE
HIIE ranks second for its platform that turns text prompts into fully buildable hardware products. The startup uses AI agents to manage everything from physical calculations and component procurement to 3D CAD generation and assembly documentation, aiming to compress months of hardware prototyping into a single workflow.
Third place: Clan World
Clan World ranks among the top three on the Kickstart circuit, joining more teams experimenting with AI-native coordination and community-driven applications.
Solana Mobile Track ($30,000 + $75,000 Solana phone)
First place: Parabola
In the Solana Mobile track, the first place is Parabola, a decentralized prediction and estimation market built on Solana. The platform allows users to speculate on real-world events through a distributed-based AMM model designed for a mobile-native trading experience.
Second place: Snakele
Snakr ranked second with an AI-powered food intelligence app that lets shoppers scan products to identify potential health risks, FDA recalls and ingredient issues. Users can also contribute missing product information and receive Solana-based rewards in return.
Third place: Rhythm
With a focus on productivity and accessibility, third place winner Rhythym built a mobile daily support app designed to help users with executive dysfunction complete daily tasks. The app integrates with Solana’s Seeker phone, Nova 2 Lite and x402 infrastructure to create AI-assisted workflows.
Coinbase/AWS Track ($45,000)
First Place: Dairy Price API x402
The Coinbase and AWS tracks mainly focus on artificial intelligence agent payment and autonomous commerce. The winning project, Dairy Price API x402, builds a pay-per-call commodity pricing and forecasting service that allows artificial intelligence agents to access dairy market data without the need for traditional API keys. Payments are settled directly in USDC via x402 on Base.
Second place: Agency payment
AgentPay ranks second with its payment reconciliation system, which allows users to approve AI agent transactions with one click while using AWS-powered risk verification to ensure agents are using funds responsibly.
Third place: Gigi
Giggy took third place for building a marketplace where users can hire artificial intelligence agents to perform research tasks. Payments are locked in cryptographic escrow on Base, while the broker itself can pay via the x402 supported transaction payment advanced API.
Runner-up: Chain Mirror
Focused on trust and verification of autonomous systems, Chainlens built an x402 compatibility layer that connects AI agents to authenticated APIs and only issues payments after responses are authenticated.
Read More: AI Agents Lead EasyA x Consensus Hong Kong Hackathon