• Public blockchain network TRON has released details of a new global developer hackathon.
• The Great Voyage: TRON 2021 Global DeFi Hackathon will see $10 million ring-fenced for elite developers who can pioneer workable defi dApps built on the TRON blockchain.

TRON has been busy expanding its defi suite since last year, when it unveiled several products including the JustLend lending platform and automated market maker JustSwap. While TRON-based defi protocols are currently outnumbered by those on Ethereum, the latest hackathon – which is part of the company’s $120 million DeFi Entrepreneurial Alliance Support Program – is certain to stimulate development efforts and spur a fresh wave of protocols.

Hacking defi

The $10 million hackathon coincides with the fifth anniversary of TRON’s inception, and reflects the network’s growing interest in the defi space. Such interest isn’t hard to fathom: a year ago, the defi market was celebrating a major milestone by surpassing $1 billion in total value locked (TVL); that figure now stands at almost $40 billion, and TRON is eager to carve out a bigger chunk of the pie.

The Great Voyage hackathon is pitched at forward-thinking blockchain developers, entrepreneurs, designers and product managers – anyone, really, who has a vision for building defi products on TRON. The judging panel will comprise expert developers and key opinion leaders, with entry categories including defi mainstays like lending, payment, DEXs, and protocol interfaces.

Projects related to infrastructure, data analysis and visualization, stablecoin issuance, insurance, NFTs, mining, and BitTorrent File System (BTFS) will also be considered, with interested devs urged to register by February 21. The curtain closes on the hackathon on February 28, with a live stream of entries scheduled for March 1-7.

In May, members of the public will get an opportunity to vote for their favorite project using TRX and SUN tokens. The maximum number of points any team can win are 100, though teams that hit a threshold of 80 will qualify for an incentive prize of $50,000 supplied by TRON honcho Justin Sun.

As a condition of the hackathon, source code used by developers is to be published on GitHub, and projects awarded a share of the war chest will also benefit from additional support such as a fast-track listing on TRON-powered DEXs like JustSwap and PoloniDEX.

TRON defi empire expands

According to TRON boss Justin Sun, business is already booming in its defi suite, with over $1.3 billion of value locked across JustLend, JustSwap and JustStable, the latter being TRON’s defi stablecoin system (USDJ). The circulation of TRC20 Tether (USDT) on the network has also exceeded $12.4 billion.

Aside from the $10 million war chest, then, there is plenty for developers to get excited about when it comes to defi on TRON. Competition entrants are encouraged to pioneer new use-cases while utilizing existing protocols such as JustSwap and TronGrid, with a $1 million bounty divided between five First Prize winners and a runners-up prize of $1 million between 10 winners.

To throw your hat in the ring, register interest via the Discord community and complete an application form before February 21.

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