ETHIstanbul is a 48-hour hackathon and conference taking place in Istanbul from September 5 to 7, 2025. It's designed for developers, researchers, and teams working on Ethereum to come together, meet in person, and build.
The event is open to anyone working on any Ethereum-related idea. The focus is on collaboration with Istanbul as a meeting point between different parts of the world.
Hacker Onboarding Opens: August 15, 2025
ETHIstanbul Starts: Friday, September 5th at 10:00
Project Submission Deadline: Sunday, September 7th at 10:00
Demo Day & Final Pitches: Sunday, September 7th (afternoon)
Closing Ceremony: Sunday, September 7th (16:00)
Bounties Distributed By: within 2 weeks after the event
🏆 ETHIstanbul Awards
At ETHIstanbul, we aim to reward outstanding innovation without restricting builders to rigid categories. Instead of predefined tracks, we’re celebrating the spirit of creativity and impact across the entire Ethereum ecosystem.
1. 🥇 Best Public Good
For the project that most meaningfully contributes to the broader Ethereum and global community.
2. 🧠 Best AI Agent Integration
Awarded to the project that most effectively combines Ethereum with autonomous agents or AI systems.
3. 🤝 Judges’ Favorite
A wildcard choice, the project that captured the hearts or stood out most to the judges.
4. 🦾 Highest Impact Potential
Ethereum developers (newcomers & veterans)
ZK builders and researchers
Designers, product people & protocol thinkers
Students, hackers, and indie builders
Ecosystem teams and open-source contributors
Any kind of builders
All participants must register on Taikai and hold a valid ETHIstanbul hacker ticket to submit projects.
To be eligible for judging, teams must submit the following via TAIKAI:
A link to a public code repository (e.g. GitHub)
A demo video (max 90 seconds) or presentation (max 5 slides)
(Optional) Live URLs or contract addresses (testnet/mainnet)
A team contact (Telegram or Discord) for communication during judging
All code must be written during the event. Pre-written or plagiarized code will disqualify the submission.