Media Release
NTN Innovation Booster – Blockchain Nation Switzerland
Wednesday, 26 August 2021
#SBHACK21
Zurich, 26 August 2021 – The Swiss Blockchain Hackathon will take place from 29 to 31 October 2021 and will be held as part of the NTN Innovation Booster - Blockchain Nation Switzerland. The multi-year funding programme was initiated by the Swiss Agency for Innovation Promotion (Innosuisse). Together with the consortium partner Trust Square, the hackathon will be organised simultaneously at various locations in Switzerland.
The organisers have chosen a hybrid format for the hackathon and have put the quality of the challenges and developers first. Around 500 developers and innovators from Switzerland and abroad are expected both on and offline to work on various tasks and compete for hotly contested prizes. The goal is to have developed working prototypes that offer solutions to real challenges after about 60 hours. The specific tasks will be published in the coming weeks.
The leading blockchain protocols Streamr, Velas, Algorand and NEAR, the licensed SEBA Bank with core competence in the area of digital assets and Bitcoin Suisse, the Swiss market leader in crypto-finance services, support the second edition of the largest Swiss Blockchain Hackathon. Blockchain protocols provide developers with access to their platforms and corporate partners define industry-specific Vertical Challenges. This way, the suitable applications can be constructed on the right platform. Participation for corporate partners is possible until the end of September and is free of charge. Over CHF 100,000 in cash and non-cash prizes as well as paid-out tokens await as a reward. In addition, the corporate acceleration phase of the NTN Innovation Booster will start afterward, in which the most promising ideas will be included.
This year's Swiss Blockchain Hackathon aims to transfer the enthusiasm for decentralized technologies and the outstanding knowledge within the Swiss blockchain community to tangible applications and business models for various industries. On the one hand, this will promote a sustainable technology ecosystem and, on the other, further strengthen Switzerland's position as a leading location for research and development in blockchain.
Trust Square co-founder Marc Degen is convinced: "The Swiss Blockchain Hackathon advances the application and acceptance of blockchain technology, not least by hacking feasible solutions for real issues within a very short time. This helps Switzerland to expand its pioneering role in the adaptation of new technologies. We are proud of the Swiss Blockchain Hackathon - the last one was great fun, and we are looking forward to the second round."
More #SBHACK21 partners and details about the Swiss Blockchain Hackathon will be published on the event website sbhack.trustsquare.ch over the coming weeks.
29-31 October 2021
Zurich: Ambassador House, Thurgauerstrasse 101, CH-8152 Opfikon
Lugano: SUPSI – Polo universitario Lugano – Campus Est, Via la Santa 1,
CH-6962 Lugano
Geneva: Université de Genève – Battelle, bâtiment A, Route de Drize 7,
CH-1227 Carouge
Registration is open from 15 September to 15 October 2021
#SBHACK21
Trust Square AG, Blockchain Nation Switzerland powered by Innosuisse
Ambassador House
SEBA Bank
Bitcoin Suisse
Streamr, Velas, Algorand, NEAR
Blockstar
SUPSI, ZHAW, UZH Blockchain Center, HSLU, UNIGE
sbhack.trustsquare.ch / blockchainnation.ch
Trust Square AG
Caterina Beffa
caterina.beffa@kext.com
Swiss Blockchain Federation
Alexandra Hofer
alexandra.hofer@blockchainfederation.ch
Located in the heart of Switzerland's commercial center at Paradeplatz and Rennweg, Trust Square provides a space for innovative ideas to flourish. With disruptive technologies as the common denominator, Trust Square connects entrepreneurs, early- stage ventures, businesses, investors, and academics and allows them to pursue their visions in an open, versatile and diverse environment.
Since 2018, Trust Square has hosted more than 300 events, from panels and talks with industry experts to think tanks, hackathons, and tech conferences. Our Swiss Blockchain Hackathon 2019 in collaboration with AWS attracted more than 200 hackers.
Trust Square has provided office space to more than 80 blockchain companies, among them Cardano, B3i, Neo, Sygnum, flovtec, Procivis, Verum Capital, Blockchain Valley Ventures, and Consensys.
The hub works closely with ETH Zurich, the universities of Zurich, Basel, Lucerne and St. Gallen, the Rapperswil University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center, and Zurich's location development agency: www.trustsquare.ch
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) represents a revolutionary and disruptive approach for business, science and society and offers numerous application possibilities. Switzerland recognised this potential early on and has established itself as one of the world's most attractive locations for the blockchain industry under the name Crypto Vallyals. In 2021, Switzerland introduced new legislation that is among the most innovation-friendly DLT regulations in the world.
The NTN Innovation Booster - Blockchain Nation Switzerland builds on this spirit of optimism and euphoria. Since the so-called Crypto Valley has gradually spread beyond its original epicentre of Zug to the whole of Switzerland and even beyond, this programme combines existing initiatives with organizations and individuals who want to become active in the field of blockchain technology. True to its nationwide activities over the past years, the Swiss Blockchain Federation is now entering a new dimension by actively promoting innovation.
Innosuisse is the Swiss Agency for Innovation Promotion. Innosuisse's mission is to promote science-based innovation in the interest of business and society. The NTN Innovation Booster funding instrument brings together interested teams from universities, businesses, and community around an innovation topic at a national level. It stimulates the testing of concrete innovation ideas. For the period 2021-2024, Innosuisse is supporting twelve NTN Innovation Boosters with a focus on a broad range of different topics.