Metapur, one of the protocol’s major distributed financial (DEFI) platforms nearby, recently hosted a 72-hour hackathon in Lima, Peru, in collaboration with NTT Data to host Dear Dev.
Key takeout
- The Hackathon revealed high levels of technical talent in Latin America, particularly in blockchain and artificial intelligence.
- Seventeen innovative projects have been developed to address local issues such as agriculture and digital identity.
- Metapool is committed to strengthening an ecosystem that is closer to the local ecosystem by continuing to support new developers.
The event brought together over 90 developers and nearly 20 teams to create a technology solution aimed at solving local problems through artificial intelligence and blockchain technology.
Claudio Cossio, founder of Meta Pool, shared her excitement in an interview after the event.
“It was a fierce, non-stop job of 48 hours. Personally, I wasn’t sleeping for more than 24 hours, but it was totally worth it. What we saw here is an incredible display of talent that exists in Latin America. This experience turned to what we could build in this area.”
The goals of the hackathon were clear. It is to encourage participants to develop solutions for local challenges using tools such as blockchains, smart contracts, and AI agents near them.
The response was overwhelming. Seventeen high quality projects were presented to address key areas such as agriculture, digital identity and community empowerment through technology.
“Many participants had never heard of it close by before the hackathon. Within 24 hours they built a completely on-chain solution combining AI and blockchain. Koshio has been added.
One of the main themes of the project was the development of decentralized digital identity tools, allowing both public and private institutions to verify data without compromising user privacy.
Guillermo, representative of Near Dev Dev, stressed:
“This hackathon was tangible evidence of the region’s immense talent. Our challenge is to help these teams integrate into a nearby ecosystem through financial, education or strategic support.”
The importance of hosting face-to-face hackathons in Latin America is also emphasized.
“Many of these events are usually held in Europe or the US, where most Latin American developers simply cannot access due to visa issues or high travel costs. By bringing events to Lima, we democratized the technology and access to these opportunities.” Koshio explained.
Metapool didn’t see the event as a competition, but it was the beginning of something much larger.
“We are proud to not only have taught us what these tools can do, but we have also shown the potential of a local market with a path to global scaling. This is just the beginning of something amazing.” He concluded.