Prestigious Indian University Hosts National Blockchain Hackathon

     IIT Kharagpur’s annual Technology Management Superstar, Kshitij, India’s premier technology institution, organized a nationwide blockchain hackathon in association with BTCXIndia, the country’s leading Bitcoin exchange, and Blockonomics, India’s blockchain data platform.

     Computer science students attending IIT Kharagpur will participate in the hackathon. These students are considered the best undergraduates in the country, ranking 300-400 out of 1.5 million students across India. In other words, the top 0.0002% of the most talented students will participate in this competition.

     Participants are expected to develop distributed applications on the platform of their choice using Bitcoin blockchain technology. The organizers of this event suggest that participants use APIs from Blocktrail, BTCXIndia, BitcoinAverage and Blockonomics to create easily applicable technologies such as blockchain-based messengers.

     Projects submitted to the panel will be judged based on different criteria, including user interface, code documentation, installation instructions, code readability, quality of programming, and speed. Since contestants need to create decentralized blockchain-based applications, panelists will focus on the efficiency of their applications and the use of distributed ledger technology.

     Organizers recommend that entrants design their platforms as unique as possible, such as “a block announcer, a Bitcoin transaction visualizer, a Bitcoin price /order visualization, a Bitcoin identity verification service, a Bitcoin notary, or a blockchain information service.”

     The Kshitji team further emphasized that the hackathon will be a friendlier environment for developers and participants than the traditional hackathons that have been launched in the country. The organizers will provide workshops, guidance and expertise on blockchain technology to help developers create the best applications using recommended APIs.

     “This is not work,” the Kshitji team explained. They wanted participants to have enough time to relax and enjoy a cup of coffee or a beer with wonderful people.

     Blockonomics, one of the organizers of the three hackathons, is optimistic about the growing acceptance and adoption of Bitcoin in India. In an interview in August 2015, Shiva Sitamraju, founder of Blockonomics, said that businessmen and freelancers are beginning to understand the concept of Bitcoin. He explained that more and more freelancers and foreign workers in American companies are being paid in Bitcoin.

     However, Sitamraju stressed that the Indian Bitcoin industry and community is still quite small compared to other countries in the Southeast Asian region. By hosting various related events such as the Bitcoin Blockchain Hackathon, Sitamraju believes that Bitcoin can really be explored in the Indian economy.

     “More education and good journalism is needed. India has a heavily regulated financial/banking sector, so the people/government are a bit weary of new financial instruments. It is important to emphasize that Bitcoin is not harmful,” Sitamraju said.