Midnight Hackathon

Who can attend?

Locations have different requirements for who can attend. This location is open to the following:

Schedule

Hackathon Schedule

You can tune in to all of the workshops at the MLH Twitch channel!

Additional Information

Prize Tracks

Each winning team member will receive a $125 digital gift card as their prize.

AI Track

AI is only as trustworthy as how it handles your data. Build AI applications that process sensitive information on the user's terms where models act on private data, and Midnight proves the rules were followed.

Mobile Track

Build a mobile experience on Midnight that protects user data by design: apps where sensitive information never leaves the device unproven.

Integrate Midnight to Upgrade an Existing App

You don't have to start from zero. Take an app that already exists, your side project, an open-source app, a web2 product clone, and add privacy with Midnight (e.g. a private login, confidential data, ZK eligibility checks). Show us the before and after.

Cross-Chain Track

Web3 doesn't live on one chain and neither do your users. Build dApps and games that span ecosystems like EVM chains, Bitcoin, NEAR, Cardano, Solana, and more with Midnight as the shared privacy engine.

Prize Track Resources

AI Track Resources

Build an AI-powered application where Midnight protects the data or verifies the behavior. For example:

• AI agents with on-chain guardrails, a copilot that can act on your wallet or data under policy constraints enforced by contract. The ecosystem already has precedent here. MidPilot, an AI financial copilot built on Midnight was recently added to midnight-awesome-dapps.
• Private inference gating: prove eligibility for a model/service without revealing the underlying data.
• Verifiable AI claims like ZK-backed attestations about what data an agent accessed or what checks it ran.

Mobile Track Resources

Build a mobile app, or mobile-first PWA, that uses Midnight as its privacy layer. For example:

• A mobile identity/eligibility app from your phone, without uploading documents.
• Mobile-first payments or ticketing with confidential balances and histories.
• A privacy-preserving health, fitness, or location app where raw data stays local and only ZK attestations go on-chain.

Check out the mobile-first tooling from Kuira labs to get started.

Integrate Midnight Track Resources

Your goal is to take an existing application and building a meaningful Midnight-powered feature on top. For example:

• Add "verify without revealing" to a rental/job/loan application flow.
• Replace a username/password or KYC step with ZK credential checks.
• Add a confidential layer to an existing web3 dApp on another chain (defi, private votes, sealed bids, hidden game state).

Cross-Chain Track Resources

Build a multi-chain dApp or on-chain game where Midnight holds the private logic and generates the proofs, and another chain acts on the verified result. Examples include:

• Cross-chain games with hidden state: strategy, card, or board games where moves settle across chains and Midnight keeps the hidden information private (fog of war, concealed hands, sealed moves).
• Cross-chain attestations: prove solvency, membership, or eligibility on Midnight; consume the result from a dApp on an EVM chain, Bitcoin, or NEAR.
• Private multi-chain identity: one ZK credential, usable across every ecosystem the app touches.
• Swaps and marketplaces with a confidential leg: multi-chain trading flows where amounts, bids, or counterparties stay shielded on the Midnight side.
• Infrastructure and tooling: dashboards, monitors, or explorers for multi-chain application state and proof flows.
• Check out projects in the ecosystem catalog like VIA Labs that already move messages and assets between Midnight and other chains.

EffectStream is the recommended stack for building multi-chain solutions.

Additional Hacker Resources

Want to get a head start learning how to build on Midnight? Check out these resources.

• Midnight Academy - Learn the basics of blockchain, zero-knowledge proofs and privacy concepts so you can write smart contracts using Compact.
• Midnight for Developers - Curated resources like docs, example repos, and guides from the Midnight team.
• AI Inspiration for Midnight - Example apps, use cases, and prompts for building w/ Midnight on Lovable. You can adapt these ideas to your own AI tooling and flows!
• Midnight Expert Plug-In for Claude Code
• Midnight Developer Docs
• Midnight for Mobile Starter Resources
• Join the Midnight Discord - We'll use the #mlh-hackers channel in the Midnight Discord to stay in touch throughout the event.