MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — At the EasyA Hackathon tucked inside Consensus Miami 2026, the energy felt less like a traditional crypto developer event and more like a live audition for the next generation of the intersection of blockchain and AI-native startups.
Nearly 1,000 developers competed on site, some from established crypto ecosystems like Base and Solana, and others from companies like Microsoft and Google, all racing to build products around one theme that kept coming up in conversation after conversation: AI agents.
The focus on AI agents had already emerged earlier this year at the EasyA x Consensus Hong Kong hackathon, where organizers described 2026 as “The Year of the Application Layer” as developers increasingly shift from infrastructure tools to AI-powered consumer applications and autonomous agents.
For the brothers Dom and Philip Kwok, co-founders of EasyA, that development is precisely the point. What began as a small hackathon series in Austin, Texas, during Consensus 2023, has quickly transformed into one of crypto’s most watched builders, attracting young passionate developers with ever more teams with serious technical pedigrees.
Their ambition for the event is, frankly, simple. “We want billion-dollar companies coming out of EasyA,” Dom Kwok said during an interview with CoinDesk on the hackathon floor. “We’ve already had, out of our other hackathons, a $10 billion company.”
That success story has become part of EasyA lore. A Harvard team that struck at a previous EasyA event went on to find “Permission AI,” which Kwoks says is now valued at about $10 billion. Another former participant, Axel, is building stablecoin dividend products backed by bitcoin.
Other alumni have reportedly gone through Y Combinator, departed from top venture firms and processed hundreds of millions in transactions. The message to developers walking through the Miami event was clear: this is no longer just a few-day coding competition, it’s increasingly being framed as a launch pad for venture-scale companies.
This year, however, the center of gravity has unmistakably shifted towards agent AI. Coinbase sponsored challenges around x402, a burgeoning framework developers are experimenting with for AI-agent payments and interactions, while Solana and Solana Mobile pushed teams toward mobile-first applications and consumer experiences.
“Lots of developers [are] really excited about AI agent workloads,” said Dom, pointing to the recent wave of massive venture funding pouring into AI agent infrastructure startups.
Some of the projects already circulating around the site reflected how far builders are stretching the category. A team called Praxis was working on blockchain-connected drones that can be controlled via smartphones, what the brothers described as “the next Palantir on the blockchain.” Another startup was building what they called “hyper-intelligent AI,” software designed to turn text prompts into physical 3D objects. “You can put in a prompt and say, ‘Build me a microscope,’ and it will actually build it for you,” Phil said. “It’s like the next phase of taking ChatGPT from something informative to something embodied.”
The winners:
The judges awarded projects that pushed AI agents beyond chatbots and into real-world coordination, automation and commerce, whether through hardware, payment infrastructure or consumer-facing apps. Across the different sponsor tracks, the winning teams reflected the broader shift underway at this year’s hackathon: developers were no longer just building crypto tools, they were building products intended for everyday use. The prizes were different per track and still awaiting how they will be distributed in each category.
Kickstart track ($50,000):
First place: FlyPraxis
FlyPraxis took the top spot in the Kickstart field, a real-time drone intelligence platform designed for military operators. The team pitched the project as “Palantir, but in real time,” using AI-powered coordination and live battlefield intelligence to control autonomous drone systems.
Second place: HIIE
HIIE was placed second with a platform that turns text messages into fully buildable hardware products. Using AI agents to manage everything from physics calculations and component sourcing to 3D CAD generation and assembly documentation, the startup aimed to compress months of hardware prototyping into a single workflow.
Third place: Clan World
Clan World rounded out the top three in the Kickstart track, joining a wider wave of teams experimenting with AI-native coordination and community-driven applications.
Solana Mobile Track ($30,000 + $75,000 Solana phones)
First place: Parabola
In the Solana Mobile track, first place went to Parabola, a decentralized prediction and estimation market built on Solana. The platform allows users to speculate on real-world events through a distribution-based AMM model designed for mobile-native trading experiences.
Second place: Snakr
Snakr took second place with an AI-powered food intelligence app that lets customers scan products to identify potential health risks, FDA recalls and ingredient concerns. Users can also contribute missing product information and earn Solana-based rewards in return.
Third place: Rhythym
Third-place winner Rhythym focused on productivity and accessibility, building a mobile routine support app that aims 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 track was heavily centered on AI agent payments and autonomous trading. The winning project, Dairy Price API x402, built a pay-per-call commodity pricing and forecasting service that allows AI agents to access data from the dairy market without traditional API keys. Payments are settled directly in USDC through x402 on a per-basis basis.
Second place: AgentPay
AgentPay placed second with a payment coordination system that provides users with one-tap approval over AI agent transactions while using AWS-powered risk validation to ensure agents are spending funds responsibly.
Third place: Giggy
Giggy took third place for building a marketplace where users can hire AI agents to perform research tasks. Payments are locked in crypto escrow on Base, while the agents themselves can pay for premium APIs through x402-powered transactions.
Number Two: Chain Lenses
Chainlens focused on trust and verification for autonomous systems, building an x402-compliant layer that connects AI agents to verified APIs and only releases payment when responses are authenticated.
Read more: AI-powered agents dominate EasyA x Consensus Hong Kong hackathon
