From 13 to 15 June 2025, Kyiv hosted ETHKyiv 2025 as part of the Ukrainian Blockchain Week organized by the Incrypted team. This hackathon has become an event of a new format: a synthesis of technology, art, and civic responsibility. This is stated in a press release shared by the project representatives with Incrypted.
More than 100 developers took part, and support was provided by key figures in the global Ethereum community, including Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum Co-Founder.
The prize pool was $40,000, and the competition lasted over 36 hours. The venue was Creative State of Arsenal.
The event team emphasised the symbolism of the performances, which began with a minute of silence in honour of the fallen defenders. After that, a violinist and soldier with the call sign Moisei, known for his performances in liberated Ukrainian cities, started playing. This gesture, according to the event team, was a reminder that technology has a human face.
In addition, the audience heard an online speech by Vitalik Buterin, who later announced the winners of the hackathon together with Rostyslav Bortman, the Founder of Ethereum Ukraine.
Buterin also signed a charity art poster from Lviv-based Vidro studio, which was part of a raffle to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“For us, charity is not an additional activity to the hackathon, but the heart of its mission. Web3, building culture, and social responsibility are our top priorities,” Bortman said.
Live presentations in Kyiv by Tomasz Sta?czak, Co-Executive Director at the Ethereum Foundation, and Leona Hioki, Co-Founder of INTMAX, who took the stage in an embroidered shirt, underlined the global support for Ukraine in the field of decentralised technologies.
The event organizers noted that ETHKyiv has also become a platform for practical knowledge: Artem Rudyi (Rudyi 114) conducted a tactical medicine training, adapting combat aid protocols for civilians.
According to the press release, among more than two dozen projects, the following stood out for their innovation:
- MapMapMap — an interactive charity map with cryptodonates and creative pixels;
- Normie Wallet — an intuitive Web3 wallet without seed phrases;
- Improver-H — anonymous tips and blockchain bonuses instead of classic loyalty programmes;
- Paper Protocol — a smart contract for an ETH holding company with NFT motivation.
The organizers summed up: “ETHKyiv 2025 is more than a competition. It is a cultural gesture in times of war, demonstrating how technology is becoming a tool for support, creativity, and change.
“We are not waiting for better times — we are creating them ourselves. There are new challenges ahead, even more ideas and people who do not stop even when the world around them is changing so rapidly,” Bortman concluded.