<p>AI agents drove a surge of startup creation at the Consensus Miami EasyA hackathon
Nearly 1,000 developers gathered at the venue, hailing from ecosystems such as Base and Solana, as well as tech giants like Microsoft and Google, all competing to develop products centered on AI agents.
What to know:
— AI agents were the primary focus of the EasyA Hackathon at Consensus Miami 2026, with nearly 1,000 developers from crypto networks like Base and Solana, along with engineers from Microsoft and Google, creating AI-native startups that covered autonomous payments, consumer applications, hardware generation, drones, and prediction markets.
— EasyA co-founders Dom and Philip Kwok describe the hackathon as transitioning from a cryptocurrency coding contest into a catalyst for billion-dollar startups, highlighting past participants who secured significant venture capital, joined Y Combinator, and established companies now worth billions.
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Within the EasyA Hackathon at Consensus Miami 2026, the atmosphere resembled less a standard crypto developer meetup and more a live showcase for the next wave of blockchain and AI-native startups.
Nearly 1,000 developers participated at the venue, including those from established crypto networks like Base and Solana, and others from companies like Microsoft and Google, all racing to create products around a recurring theme: AI agents.
The emphasis on AI agents was first noted earlier this year at the EasyA x Consensus Hong Kong hackathon, where organizers labeled 2026 the “Year of the Application Layer” as developers moved from infrastructure tools to AI-driven consumer applications and autonomous agents.
For EasyA co-founders Dom and Philip Kwok, this evolution is intentional. What started as a modest hackathon series in Austin, Texas, during Consensus 2023 has rapidly grown into one of crypto’s most watched builder events, drawing passionate young developers with increasingly strong technical backgrounds.
Their goal for the event is straightforward. “We aim for billion-dollar companies to emerge from EasyA,” Dom Kwok told Decryptnews on the hackathon floor. “We’ve already had a $10 billion company from our previous hackathons.”
This success has become part of EasyA history. A Harvard team that pitched at a prior EasyA event went on to found “Cognition AI,” which the Kwoks note is now valued at approximately $10 billion. Another former participant, Axal, is developing stablecoin yield products backed by bitcoin.
Other alumni have reportedly attended Y Combinator, raised funds from top venture firms, and processed hundreds of millions in transactions. The message to developers at the Miami event was clear: this is no longer just a short coding competition, but increasingly a launchpad for venture-scale companies.
This year, the focus has clearly shifted toward agentic AI. Coinbase sponsored challenges around x402, an emerging framework for AI-agent payments and interactions, while Solana and Solana Mobile encouraged teams to build mobile-first applications and consumer experiences.
“Many developers are very excited about AI agentic workloads,” Dom said, referencing the recent influx of venture funding into AI-agent infrastructure startups.
Some projects already circulating at the venue showed how far builders are pushing the category. One team, Praxis, worked on blockchain-connected drones controllable via smartphones, described by the brothers as “the next Palantir on the blockchain.” Another startup was developing “hyper-intelligent AI,” software designed to turn text prompts into physical 3D objects. “You could input a prompt like, ‘Build me a microscope,’ and it would actually construct it for you,” Phil explained. “It’s the next step in evolving ChatGPT from an informational tool into an embodied one.”
The winners:
Judges rewarded projects that advanced AI agents beyond chatbots into real-world coordination, automation, and commerce, whether through hardware, payment infrastructure, or consumer apps. Across sponsor tracks, winning teams reflected the broader shift at this year’s hackathon: developers were building products for everyday use, not just crypto tools. Prizes varied by track and distribution details are still pending.
Kickstart Track ($50,000):
First place: FlyPraxis
FlyPraxis took first place in the Kickstart track with a real-time drone intelligence platform for military operators. The team pitched the project as “Palantir, but in real time,” using AI-powered coordination and live battlefield intelligence to manage autonomous drone systems.
Second place: HIIE
HIIE placed second with a platform that turns text prompts into fully buildable hardware products. Using AI agents to handle everything from physics calculations and component sourcing to 3D CAD generation and assembly documentation, the startup aimed to compress months of hardware prototyping into a single workflow.
Third place: Clan World
Clan World completed the top three in the Kickstart track, joining a broader wave of teams experimenting with AI-native coordination and community-driven applications.
Solana Mobile Track ($30,000 + $75,000 worth of Solana phones)
First place: Parabola
In the Solana Mobile track, first place went to Parabola, a decentralized prediction and estimation market built on Solana. The platform allows users to speculate on real-world events through a distribution-based AMM model designed for mobile-native trading experiences.
Second place: Snakr
Snakr took second place with an AI-powered food intelligence app that lets shoppers scan products to identify potential health risks, FDA recalls, and ingredient concerns. Users can also contribute missing product information and earn Solana-based rewards in return.
Third place: Rhythym
Third place winner Rhythym focused on productivity and accessibility, building a mobile routine-support app aimed at helping users with executive dysfunction complete daily tasks. The app integrates with Solana’s Seeker phone, Nova 2 Lite, and x402 infrastructure to create AI-assisted workflows.
Coinbase / AWS Track ($45,000)
First place: Dairy Price API x402
The Coinbase and AWS track centered heavily on AI-agent payments and autonomous commerce. The winning project, Dairy Price API x402, built a pay-per-call commodity pricing and forecasting service that allows AI agents to access dairy market data without traditional API keys. Payments are settled directly in USDC through x402 on Base.
Second place: AgentPay
AgentPay placed second with a payment coordination system that gives users one-tap approval over AI-agent transactions while using AWS-powered risk validation to ensure agents spend funds responsibly.
Third place: Giggy
Giggy took third place for building a marketplace where users can hire AI agents to perform research tasks. Payments are locked in crypto escrow on Base, while the agents themselves can pay for premium APIs through x402-powered transactions.
Runner up: Chainlens
Chainlens focused on trust and verification for autonomous systems, building an x402-compatible layer that connects AI agents to verified APIs and only releases payment once responses are authenticated.