HACKATHON
Decentralized Futures Hackathon
July 26–27, 2025
Virtual via zoom
Hosted by the Decentralized Futures Initiative
The Decentralized Futures Hackathon is a two-day, art-driven sprint to imagine and prototype new forms of creative infrastructure. Designed for artists, technologists, builders, and culture-makers, the event blends rapid ideation, collaborative design, and on-chain experimentation to explore what decentralized systems can unlock for the future of art and community.
Through a mix of live programming, mentorship, and asynchronous collaboration, participants will build speculative projects—ranging from physical-digital artifacts to vibe-coded tools and cultural protocols. The hackathon is less about polish and more about provocation: a space to prototype signals from possible tomorrows.
Goals:
-
Inspire bold thinking about decentralized creative tools and systems
-
Connect emerging builders with artists and cultural technologists
-
Prototype ideas that bridge virtual and physical worlds using on-chain tools
-
Cultivate new rituals, aesthetics, and frameworks for collective creation
________________________________
AGENDA (Subject to change)
Day 1: Saturday, July 26
Total Programming Block: 3 hours synchronous + 1 hour office hours
Focus: Framing the challenge, radical ideation, team formation
All times are Eastern Time
| Welcome & Logistics | Intro to the weekend, tools (Zoom, Miro), code of conduct, and how to participate. | |
1:10- 1:30 PM | Keynote: Framing Decentralized Futures | Lance Weiler introduces the provocation, key themes, and design challenge. |
| 1:30–1:45 PM | 5x Why Exercise | Why are you here? Breakouts or Miro journaling to explore personal creative intent. |
| 1:45–2:00 PM | 100 Ideas in 5 Minutes | Rapid-fire brainstorm in Miro—wild, messy, generative. |
| 2:00–2:30 PM | Team Formation | Idea clustering and team matching led by organizers. |
| 2:30–3:00 PM | Creative Panel: The Art of Building | Featuring John, Banana, and guests. Insights from the arts, games, code, and culture. |
| 3:00–4:00 PM | Mentor Office Hours (Day 1) | Live Zoom breakout rooms + async Q&A thread. Connect with mentors for input or guidance. |
Day 2: Sunday, July 27
Total Programming Block: 4 hours synchronous + 2 hours office hours
Focus: Deepen ideas, get feedback, and present final prototypes
All times are Eastern Time
| 1:00–1:10 PM | Morning Kickoff | Quick check-in, updates, and warm-up. |
| 1:10–1:30 PM | Mini Case Study: On-Chain x IRL | Fubby shares a fast-paced case study on linking blockchain to real-world physical artifacts. |
| 1:30–1:50 PM | Culture & Infrastructure: The Biz Layer | Pedro explores business models and sustainability for on-chain cultural projects. |
| 1:50–2:10 PM | Vibe Coding & Toolkits | Poof and Believe.App offer demos and provocations about play, expression, and on-chain tooling. |
| 2:10–4:00 PM | Mentor Office Hours (Day 2) | Final chance for teams to get feedback. Zoom drop-ins or async Q&A with mentors. |
| 4:00–6:30 PM | Build Time (Async/Silent Hours) | All teams focus heads-down on final polish and presentation prep. |
| 6:30–8:00 PM | Final Presentations | Each team shares a 5–7 minute presentation. Optional jury feedback + community celebration. |
Decentralized Futures
is a collaboration between
Columbia DSL & the Solana Foundation