The 2024 Q4 BNB Hack, known as the “Ultimate Battle of Hacker Heroes,” has come to a close, and we’re excited to celebrate the groundbreaking innovations that emerged during this quarter’s event. With a prize pool of over $458,000, we’ve received over 200 applications. The hackathon brought together some of the brightest minds in Web3 development, providing a platform for creativity and cutting-edge solutions.

Out of 204 submissions, 10 projects were selected to advance to the demo round and compete for the top three spots. You can watch the hackathon Top 10 demo day here.

The BNB Hack Series is just one of the initiatives BNB Chain leads to offer builders enhanced opportunities and visibility. In addition, BNB Chain provides other exciting programs such as our TVL Incentive Program, designed to encourage liquidity growth, the Memecoin Innovation initiative to drive creativity in the memecoin space, and our newly launched AI Agent Solutions, including the upcoming AI Hackathon. These programs aim to support innovation and foster growth across various verticals within the Web3 ecosystem.

Celebrating our winners

The Q4 Hackathon is open to unrestricted creativity, fostering the best innovation without a specific theme or wishlist. Instead, we've curated tracks aligned with current market trends and BNB Chain’s strategic focus, including:

• Stablecoin, DeFi, and Payments: Develop efficient DeFi solutions centered around stablecoins.
• Telegram-based dApps and Infrastructure: Create consumer-focused dApps or infrastructure for the growing on-chain gaming community.
• AI-driven dApps and Infrastructure: Explore AI applications across DeFi, DeSci, and meme culture, positioning BNB Chain as a preferred platform for decentralized science projects.
• New Narratives and Infrastructure (DeSoc, DeSci, DeBio): Innovate with infrastructure for consumer applications and real-world commerce.

These tracks aim to drive real business impact and onboard the next billion users to BNB Chain and we believe the following winners embody such characteristics. 

We are thrilled to announce the top winners of the BNB Hack 2024 Q4!

1st Place - $15,000: 

PayNova: PayNova is a blockchain-based payroll platform that simplifies global payroll management by addressing inefficiencies, high costs, and delays. It offers businesses secure, automated, and transparent payment solutions, allowing employers to pay employees worldwide quickly and cost-effectively. Key features include blockchain integration for secure and immutable transactions, smart contracts to automate payments, and instant, low-cost cross-border transfers.

With features like a user-friendly interface, scalable security, and onramp/offramp integration for seamless crypto-to-fiat conversion, PayNova supports businesses of all sizes. Employers can set payroll rules, automate execution with smart contracts, and track payments in real-time, while employees receive payments instantly in their wallets.

Looking ahead, PayNova plans to introduce an AI-powered payroll agent for autonomous execution, AI-based KYC for faster onboarding, and Zero-Knowledge Proofs to enhance data privacy. Combining blockchain, smart contracts, and AI, PayNova is reshaping payroll management with efficiency, transparency, and security.

2nd Place - $10,000: 

Outrun: Outrun is a trailblazer in next-generation DeFi and Web3, featuring four core modules: OutStake, OutSwap, FFLaunch, and Memeverse. Together, these modules offer yield tokenization, liquid staking derivatives, decentralized exchanges, novel token financing paradigms, and Memecoin staking, creating a comprehensive ecosystem.

OutStake introduces a revolutionary staking model using yield-bearing tokens, enabling users to unlock liquidity and earn higher returns with features like Principal Tokens (PT), interest-rate-linked stablecoins (YT), universal principal tokens (UPT), and position option tokens (POT). OutSwap enhances AMMs with native yield capture, customizable fee tiers, and referral incentives. FFLaunch provides a fair, risk-free launchpad, ensuring equitable token distribution and reduced investor risk, while Memeverse extends these innovations to Memecoin issuance and staking with unique features like ERC4626-compliant staking vaults and viral community growth mechanisms.

These interconnected modules form a robust and user-friendly DeFi ecosystem, blending yield tokenization, liquidity solutions, and decentralized innovations. Outrun’s comprehensive design empowers users and projects alike, fostering transparency, security, and sustainability in Web3.

AgentArcade: AgentArcade is the decentralized AI agent launchpad on BNB Chain, enabling users to create and tokenize AI agents through a simple, no-code interface. Whether you’re building social media influencers, personalized AI companions, or game master agents for immersive RPG adventures, AgentArcade makes it easy with just a text-based description. The platform automates agent configuration, personality generation, deployment, and token creation for a seamless experience.

AgentArcade offers three primary agent categories: Social Influencer Agents that engage naturally with audiences, AI Companions for personalized, meaningful interactions, and Game Master Agents that generate dynamic narratives for text-based RPGs. The platform’s economic model includes a fair launch mechanism, bonding curve-based market making, and revenue-sharing for creators, all powered by platform tokens. Users can design, customize, and deploy agents effortlessly by holding a minimum of 1,000 platform tokens and paying a deployment fee.

Binabi is AgentArcade’s premier AI influencer, specializing in BNB Chain expertise. As a virtual guide born from blockchain technology, Binabi simplifies navigating the BNB ecosystem, providing valuable insights and personalized interactions. 

3rd Place - $5,000:

RhythmMural: Rhythm Mural is a community-driven music contest that combines creativity and blockchain transparency. Users can create unique tracks inspired by daily themes, vote for their favorites, and earn rewards as both creators and voters. The platform operates on a smart contract, ensuring fair and automated processes for submission, voting, and reward distribution. 

Participants generate music tracks based on the daily theme, which could reflect moods, genres, or cultural trends. The community votes for their favorite submissions, and winners are declared at the end of the day. Rewards are distributed transparently using smart contracts, with voters of the winning tracks also earning a share. With features like blockchain transparency, automated processes, and fair reward distribution, Rhythm Mural fosters creativity while maintaining user trust.

Rhythm Mural sustains operations through a small platform fee while exploring additional revenue streams like premium features, sponsored themes, and an NFT marketplace for winning tracks. It appeals to music enthusiasts, creators, and blockchain advocates by offering a fun, rewarding, and decentralized space for creative collaboration.

StarBridge: Star Bridge is a Telegram bot that allows users to seamlessly convert Telegram Stars into cryptocurrencies on the BSC and opBNB networks. With multi-chain support and token options like USDT and USDC, users can easily exchange Stars at a fixed rate. The bot ensures smooth transactions with real-time conversions, vault balance checks, and instant token transfers.

Users can manage their wallets, view transaction history, and test payment flows using intuitive commands such as /addwallet, /buy, and /history. The platform is designed for convenience and reliability, making it accessible for anyone looking to turn their in-app rewards into crypto assets.

With future plans to launch on mainnets and develop the innovative StarGas Feature, Star Bridge aims to expand its functionality by enabling users to sign transactions or mint NFTs using Telegram Stars. 

DoubtEarn: DoubtEarn is a blockchain-powered Q&A platform built on the BNB Smart Chain, offering a transparent and incentivized ecosystem for knowledge exchange. Users can post questions with bounty rewards in BNB, while experts submit answers to earn these rewards. Using smart contracts, the platform automates payments and records all interactions on the blockchain, ensuring trust and removing intermediaries. Answers remain hidden until a winner is selected, maintaining fairness throughout the process.

The platform features a responsive interface built with Next.js and Tailwind CSS, seamless blockchain interaction via Ethers.js, and MetaMask wallet integration for secure transactions. DoubtEarn's modular architecture ensures smooth functionality, from question posting and answer submission to bounty payouts, all while enhancing transparency and trust in Q&A interactions.

Looking ahead, DoubtEarn plans to introduce user ratings, advanced search, multi-currency support, and a mobile app, with potential AI-powered moderation to ensure quality content. By combining blockchain's trustless capabilities with the simplicity of traditional Q&A platforms, DoubtEarn creates a rewarding and transparent environment for sharing knowledge.

Honorable Mentions

We would also like to thank the following 13 projects for their efforts and participation:

BNB Market, Quintus, CapyPolls, Chainchirp, DexPay, Centrium, SkillRoom, clash_of_clef, Quick Escrow Link, Crystal Caves: A ZK-secured Cave Exploration Game, Litverse, SkyTrade, Buckit.

Sponsor Track Winners:

We are thrilled to announce the winners of the Sponsor Tracks selected by the corresponding sponsors: 

We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to our sponsors, who supported this event. We appreciate the continued partnership of our annual sponsors: Polyhedra Network, Dora Factory, DEGO Finance, TUSD, Sonorus, and THENA. A special thank you also goes to our Q4 sponsors: Myshell, UXUY, and Simon’s Cat, for their invaluable contributions to the success of this hackathon.

Opportunities Beyond The Hackathon

The winning teams won’t just walk away with prize money—they’re receiving a comprehensive Kickstart package worth $50,000, including valuable credits from AWS, Google Cloud, and more. On top of that, winners will be considered for a direct interview with BNB Chain’s Most Valuable Builder (MVB) program, offering them a unique opportunity to further grow their projects.

Milestone-driven rewards are also available: if the top six projects achieve additional development goals, each could receive up to $10,000 in further incentives.

Congratulations to All Participants

Congratulations to all participants in the BNB Chain Hack Series! Your creativity, hard work, and dedication to advancing blockchain technology are truly inspiring. We’re excited for the future of Web3, thanks to innovators like you.

Stay tuned for updates on upcoming hackathons and events. Together, we continue to build a decentralized future on BNB Chain!

If you have any questions or need assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to us through BNB Chain Discord. We are here to support you 24/7 and are committed to providing you with the resources you need to succeed.

Thank you for all of the projects’ participation, and we look forward to their continued involvement in our future events. We value your hackathon feedback! Please take a moment to share your thoughts with us through this form.