Back

Coinbase’s Base Hackathon Faces Allegations of Awarding Prizes to Non-Functional Projects

Community backlash intensifies as investigations reveal AI-generated websites among winning projects, allegedly linked to Coinbase employees.

Summary

Coinbase’s Base network hackathon, the Onchain Summer Award, has faced criticism after second and third place winners—owatch and Opi Trade—were revealed to be AI-generated websites with no functional products. These projects were allegedly connected to Coinbase employees, leading to accusations of favoritism and unfair judgment. Developers have demanded explanations, but organizers have not responded.

Terms & Concepts
  • Hackathon: An event where developers collaborate intensively over a short period to create software projects, often competing for prizes.
  • Onchain Application: A decentralized application that operates directly on a blockchain, leveraging smart contracts for its functionality.
  • AI-Generated Website: A web platform created using artificial intelligence tools, which may lack actual interactive or functional capabilities if not properly developed.