The rubric
| Criterion | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Innovation | 30 % | Originality; creative or non-obvious combinations of pallets |
| Native pallet use | 25 % | Real integration with at least one native pallet — not only EVM or generic contracts |
| Code quality | 20 % | Readability, error handling, tests (a basic unit suite counts) |
| Documentation | 15 % | README, reproduction steps, architecture description |
| Working demo | 10 % | The main flow runs on the testnet with transactions verifiable in the explorer |
Each criterion is scored 1–10; the final score is the weighted sum. Ties break on innovation.
The jury
At least three people: two from the core team and one external where possible. Deliberations are not public; scores per criterion are shared with each team afterwards.
Why native use is weighted so heavily
Because a Solidity contract that would run identically on any EVM chain tells the ecosystem nothing about its own runtime. The point of the event is to exercise the pallets — DEX, intents, MEV protection, AI serving, identity, PQC — and find the gaps a first user finds. A submission that uses the EVM and reaches a native pallet through a precompile or the SDK scores well; one that never touches a pallet cannot score full marks here.
What "verifiable in the explorer" means
The demo's transactions exist in finalized blocks on the public testnet and can be found on EmpooScan by hash or account. This is also why the explorer's indexer must be repaired before the event: a judge must be able to check.
Special award
The most innovative submission outside the podium may be invited directly into the grants programme, bypassing the application process, at the committee's discretion.
Fellowships
There is no fellows programme. The previous version of this page announced one for another ecosystem's conference. What the hackathon offers a strong team is the grants programme's support — testnet resources, a core-team channel, public listing — not a stipend.
Based on TESTNET_HACKATHON_PLAN.md §4.