The atmosphere at the online HackFS was electric, filled with ideas, code, and a hacking spirit as teams came together for a three-week virtual hackathon of intense coding. HackFS, organized by ETHGlobal, fostered an inspiring environment with numerous virtual workshops and Discord hangouts, encouraging an active exchange of ideas and nurturing a strong community. Over the course of the three-week event, participants shared a passion for innovation, decentralization, and a desire for a better internet, which united diverse individuals from all over the world.

The spirit of collaboration was palpable, sparking dynamic discussions and idea-sharing among hackers. The hackathon attracted many participants, from experienced developers to newcomers eager to explore the blockchain ecosystem. Despite their varied backgrounds, all attendees were eager to push the boundaries of innovation and had a collective ambition to drive the future of technology forward.

Prompt: a cinematic cyberpunk software engineering team building a new future with computers in the tones of turquoise

With a global assembly of minds, the event became a vibrant online hub of diverse cultures and viewpoints, enriching the gathering as each person contributed distinct perspectives and valuable insights. The overarching sentiment was clear: participants were there to innovate, create long-lasting connections, learn, build, and contribute.

Unleashing Ideas and Inspiration at HackFS

HackFS started with an opening online ceremony and workshop presented by our CEO Ally Haire and CIO Steve Coochin, which set an exhilarating tone and provided resources for the weeks ahead. From the onset, ideas flowed as participants from various backgrounds shared their visions and excitement in virtual meeting rooms. Developers, and blockchain enthusiasts quickly formed teams, eager to transform their ideas into functioning prototypes over the following weeks.

HackFS provided a variety of resources, such as workshops covering a spectrum of topics, from the basics of blockchain technology and a hackathon starter kit to advanced concepts in decentralized finance (DeFi) and smart contract development. Industry leaders shared their insights and experiences, offering invaluable knowledge and practical tips to be successful as a hacker.

As the hackathon progressed, hackers gathered virtually to start collaborating and iterating on their ideas. Virtual meetups on Discord, YouTube Live, and Google Meet were filled with discussions, coding, and spontaneous brainstorming sessions as teams tackled complex problems and explored new possibilities within the blockchain space. The event provided a platform and a catalyst for all attendees to push the limits of their creativity and technical skills. Mentors roamed the virtual rooms, offering guidance and insights, enriching the experience for those tinkering with ideas or building out their projects.

Lilypad's Role in HackFS

During the hackathon, the Lilypad team supported multiple groups with the powerful capabilities of the Lilypad Network. Many teams utilized the network's significant computing power and specialized in efficiently managing containerized workloads requiring substantial computational resources. This feature was vital for projects needing intensive data processing and AI-driven generation. Lilypad Network's versatility allowed it to be used effectively in many projects.

One standout project, CiperCraft, which won the first-place bounty, utilized Lilypad to create a decentralized hub for federated model training on access-controlled private datasets. This project automated deployment and training on a compute network, saved weights on IPFS, and hosted models as REST endpoints while verifying correctness via zkML. The integration of Lilypad's capabilities was crucial for managing the intensive data processing and computational requirements of federated learning models.

Another innovative project, NexTown, which won second place, developed a decentralized AI computation and storage platform that allowed users to run AI models via Lilypad, encrypt results with their public key, and securely store outputs on Lighthouse, accessible only by the user’s private key. This project highlighted Lilypad's ability to handle secure, large-scale AI computations and storage solutions efficiently.

Filecoin ML Engine, which secured third place, built an on-chain ML engine to create Dapp ML agents on top of Filecoin. This project was designed to provide data collection, extraction, and computation on the Filecoin virtual machine, showcasing Lilypad's integration with other decentralized technologies. More details can be found on the ETHGlobal Showcase page.

Dogtoken AI ERC404 showcased Lilypad's stable diffusion capabilities to generate unique images. This project demonstrated Lilypad's versatility in creative applications, combining blockchain technology with AI-driven image generation to create distinctive digital assets.

As sponsor partners, the Lilypad team was involved in the submission judging on the final day. Given the amazing performance of all the participants throughout the hackathon, selecting the winners for the best use of Lilypad was challenging. However, several entries stood out, particularly those that built tooling around automated Lilypad module creation, AI agent utilization, and data analytics using the Lilypad Olama3 module via the JS wrapper.

The winners are showcased in this tweet thread, highlighting their approaches and integration of the Lilypad network.

Keep on Buidl-ing

While this blog highlights key moments and the winners of the Lilypad prizes, it is just a glimpse into the hard work put in, not only by the organizers but also by the event participants.

Over three weeks of intense collaboration, the community utilized Lilypad, turning 16 ideas into functional prototypes. This showcased the power of diverse minds working together at ETHGlobal HackFS to drive decentralized innovation.

As the hackathon drew to a close, there was a sense of hope that participants would continue to refine and expand their projects. The energy and ideas generated during the event have set the stage for a wave of groundbreaking projects that have the potential to shape the future of Web3. These builders aren't just writing code; they're actively forging new paths in a decentralized-driven future.

A special thanks to the ETHGlobal team for putting on HackFS 2024, another remarkable global hackathon. Facilitating such an event, bringing together people with ideas and inspiring them to build together for a better future, requires significant coordination.