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Coinbase announces Bithack winners and own App Store

Last Updated April 14, 2023 6:04 AM
Christoph Marckx
Last Updated April 14, 2023 6:04 AM
three screens of a cell phone showing the location of a planter
Coinplanter won first price at Coinbase’s Bithack, snagging $10,000 in BTC and worldwide fame in the process.

Bitcoin contests, we do not see them often. At least not big ones. There was one; however, that caught the eye. Coinbase organised Bithack, a contest where developers were encouraged to ‘explore the possibilities of Bitcoin’. This left many options open, so creativity was a high priority in this game. Bithack  did not leave its fans disappointed.

As an online hackathon, BitHack allows developers across platforms to participate in creating the next big thing on the Internet, while also getting a chance to win bitcoin. The top three apps are rewarded with the honor of being winners of the first edition of Bithack. As if that tremendous feat would not be enough, there was a cash price, as well. The third best app would receive a whole $3000; first runner-up would go home with $5000 and the first spot was guaranteed a whopping $10,000. The game was on!

Third place: Coinery.io 

Ever wanted to sell your stuff for Bitcoins, but were afraid of the hassle that this would bring? Many people think it’s just easier to put things up on eBay. That’s where Coinery.io steps in. The website allows you to simply create a product and put a Bitcoin price tag on it. You provide the information and put the sale online. Coinery handles the payment and makes sure your Bitcoins end up in your wallet. All of this is provided through Coinbase. Selling things for Bitcoins was never so easy. Coinery.io brings virtual currencies one step closer to the people and because of that; they well deserved this nice third place.

Second place: Aircoin 

Aircoin is a special one. This smartphone app allows its users to transfer Bitcoins to each other, as long as you’re nearby. The app detects other Aircoin users in your neighborhood. Imagine you owe a friend some money for a movie ticket he bought for you. You check your wallet, but it appears to be empty. No worries, Aircoin will solve this for you. Just open the app, let it detect your friend and type in the amount of coins you want to send to him or her. You can even enter the amount in dollars; the app will convert it to Bitcoin and send it. After pressing okay, all your friend has to do is open the app and accept the payment. An app like this shows it’s possible to use Bitcoin as an everyday currency.

First place: Coinplanter 

The first place goes to Coinplanter. This is a mobile Bitcoin geotagging game that allows you to share, store or hide Bitcoins based on location. Once you’ve hidden some of your coins, you’re free to go out and find coins that were hidden by other users. Geotagging games are gettings increasingly popular, and Bitcoin variants are popping up. A while ago, we reported on Bitrunner. It seems Coinplanter has beaten them to it since this app is available for download already in Google Play .

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These three apps were chosen out of 112 entries. Coinbase wanted to make sure there was a fair process for judging the apps. After an initial screening to ensure eligibility according to Bithack rules , the apps were split into three groups that were each scored by a pair of judges from the Coinbase team. Creativity, usability and execution were the top priorities  when evaluating the apps. Each pair of judges submitted the top apps from its group onto the final round. In this final, a team of twelve judges selected their top three apps anonymously on a voting slip. The total number of votes determined the winners.

Coinbase Apps

If you want to try out the winning apps, as well as some of the best that did not make the top three, Coinbase will be showcasing them through Coinbase Apps  in the coming weeks. Coinbase Apps is Coinbase’s very own app store for apps build using Coinbase platform and APIs. Thousand of apps have already been developed using the Coinbase API and, because they are developers too, Coinbase decided it would be good to bring all those apps together in one central app store. If you developed an app using the Coinbase API, be sure to visit their website. Who knows, after making an application, you can see your own app shine in Coinbase Apps.

If you think you have what it takes to compete in Bithack, there’s good news for you. A new edition of the contest – with a crowd-voting element – has already been confirmed. Keep an eye on the Bithack Twitter  for more updates on this.