The Tezos EVM (Etherlink) AI Hackathon, a competition challenging developers to build innovative applications at the intersection of artificial intelligence and blockchain, concluded on April 15, 2026, with a total prize pool of $5,000 USD. The event, as announced by "medved" in a tweet, aimed to push the boundaries of what is possible on the Tezos EVM.
The hackathon specifically sought projects leveraging AI agents interacting with smart contracts, decentralized AI inference, on-chain AI governance, and AI-powered decentralized finance (DeFi). Participants were encouraged to deploy their solutions on Tezos EVM (Etherlink), an EVM-compatible Layer 2 solution built on Tezos Smart Rollups technology. Etherlink offers scalability with Layer 1 security, approximately 500-millisecond confirmation times, and near-zero transaction costs.
Key dates for the hackathon included applications opening on March 27, with an active build period from March 23 to April 9. Submissions closed on April 9, followed by a judging period from April 10-11. The culmination was a finalists' livestream and the announcement of winners on April 15, 2026.
The prize structure awarded $2,500 for first place, $1,500 for second, and $1,000 for third, with all finalists featured in a Now Media livestream. Eligibility required participants to be individuals aged 18 or older, or teams of up to five members, from any country not prohibited by law. Projects needed to be original work, deployed on Tezos EVM, meaningfully integrate AI functionality, and be open-source.
This hackathon follows previous successful Etherlink events, such as the "Etherlink Hackathon 2025: Summer of Code," which saw nearly 100 project submissions across various categories including DeFi, gaming, art, and AI. The recurring hackathons underscore the Tezos ecosystem's commitment to fostering innovation and expanding the utility of its high-performance, low-fee blockchain infrastructure for emerging technologies like AI.
