Colosseum runs two primary online hackathons a year, one from April to May and one from September to October. Founders spend four weeks building a new crypto product on any blockchain, alone or in a team.
The fall 2026 edition, Crypto World’s Fair, ran from September 14 to October 12, 2026; a January 2026 Colosseum blog post had listed September 28 to November 2. Between editions, Colosseum points founders to its ongoing Eternal competition.
Benefits & funding
- Fall 2026 prizes: $30,000 grand prize, $15,000 each for 20 projects, $5,000 each for a public-good and a university prize, and ecosystem track pools of $100,000 each across ten products for Solana, Tempo, Hyperliquid and Zcash, and $25,000 each across five products for Ethereum L1, Base, Arbitrum and Robinhood Chain.
- The campaign page cites $840,000 in total prizes; amounts change each edition.
- All winners are interviewed for Colosseum’s accelerator; accepted teams receive $250,000 in pre-seed funding and 12 weeks with the team in San Francisco.
- Winners are not required to join the accelerator.
Eligibility
- Entrepreneurs and developers building a new product that has not raised significant outside funding; products on any blockchain qualify.
- Solo or team entry; each person may join one team and submit one product per hackathon.
- Pre-existing code is allowed if disclosed; only work done during the hackathon is judged.
- Under the fall 2026 rules, entrants must be at least 18 or the age of majority where they live, whichever is older; younger people may ask for a case-by-case decision.
- The same rules bar people located or ordinarily resident in Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, or the Crimea/Sevastopol, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine, as well as sanctioned persons and staff of the organiser and sponsors with their immediate families.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
“Individuals who are the age of majority in their country or residence or at least 18 years of age, whichever is older as of the start of the Contest. … the following are not eligible: (i) persons located or ordinarily resident in: Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Somalia, Syria, the Crimea/Sevastopol, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine, Venezuela, and Yemen” Eligibility
Residence required
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We only check the criteria we have data for. Always confirm full eligibility on the official page before applying.
Application process
- 1Create a Colosseum account and join the running hackathon; every team member registers, and the leader adds them at submission.
- 2Build during the four-week window, disclosing any earlier work.
- 3Before the deadline, the team leader submits one product with a repository link, a two-to-three-minute presentation video, a demo video of up to three minutes, and go-to-market details.
- 4Shortlisted teams may be invited to a 15-minute Zoom interview.
Program timeline
Fall 2026 edition (Crypto World’s Fair) opened.
Sep 14, 2026
Submissions closed.
Oct 12, 2026
winners announced by this date.
Dec 5, 2026
next primary hackathon expected; no date announced yet.
April–May 2027