I’ve joined my fair share of hackathons over the years. If you’ve done the same, you know the usual cycle. You team up, grind for 48 hours, ship something that sort of works for demo day, and then it stops there. Maybe you get a small prize, maybe not, but either way the project rarely lives beyond the weekend.
That’s why WCHL 2025 caught my attention. Instead of another short sprint, it’s structured as a 4-month builder league. The goal isn’t just to prototype, it’s to take an idea all the way to a live, mainnet-deployed app on Internet Computer Protocol (ICP).
Why I Think It’s Worth Exploring
If you’re like me, trying to sharpen your skills and maybe score funding or offers, here’s what stands out:
Real product focus
The aim is to build something that users can actually interact with, not just a demo to impress judges for 5 minutes.Time to learn and iterate
Four months is long enough to make mistakes, get feedback, and improve without burning out like in a weekend sprint.Support that matters
There’s access to mentorship, DFINITY engineers, and connections that could help if you want to take your project further.Chance to get funded
Beyond the $300K prize pool, there’s a path to grants and even VC intros if your project shows promise.
The Tracks
You can build in areas like:
- AI
- Bitcoin DeFi
- Fully on-chain apps
- RWA (real-world assets)
- Open category (your own idea)
Final Thoughts
For me, this is an opportunity to try pushing beyond quick prototypes and see if I can create something with staying power.
If you want to check it out:
https://dorahacks.io/hackathon/wchl25-qualification-round/detail
(When registering, choose **ICP HUB Bulgaria* if they ask where you’re from)*
Whether or not you join, I think more hackathons should focus on real builds like this. It’s a solid way to level up as a dev.
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