August 2020 Summaries

The integration of smart contracts with real-world data through secure oracles, as facilitated by Chainlink, is broadening the potential applications for developers by enabling access to off-chain data and infrastructure. This transformative capability is part of a broader societal shift known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The upcoming Chainlink Hackathon, scheduled from September 7th to 27th, 2020, invites global participation to explore these possibilities, offering the chance to connect with top projects, engineers, and receive support from experienced blockchain developers. Chainlink provides a decentralized oracle network that allows secure connections to various data sources, empowering smart contracts with functionalities such as provably fair random numbers for blockchain-based applications. Participants in the hackathon can compete for over $40,000 in prizes, including bounties paid in LINK tokens, while gaining access to educational resources and workshops to assist in project development.

Chainlink has launched a formal bug bounty program on Gitcoin, backed by over $100,000 in LINK funding from the Chainlink Community Grant Program, to enhance the security and resilience of its network. By collaborating with the open-source community and the Gitcoin developer community, Chainlink aims to make its infrastructure more tamper-proof, benefiting the broader Ethereum and DeFi ecosystems. Participants in the program can earn bounties ranging from $250 to $50,000 for responsibly disclosing vulnerabilities, particularly those affecting Solidity-based smart contracts and Chainlink core node software. This initiative is an extension of Chainlink's existing bug bounty program on HackerOne, and it underscores the company's commitment to leveraging open-source collaboration to secure its platform and the DeFi space at large.

The 2020 Unitize Hackathon, sponsored in part by Chainlink, awarded $5k in LINK bounties to developers for innovative uses of Chainlink oracles in smart contract applications. Among the standout projects, the LINK Gas Station won the Overall Best Award for its solution to streamline enterprise adoption of smart contracts by eliminating the need for companies to hold cryptocurrencies, utilizing relayers to manage transactions. The Judges’ Pick Award went to Digital Bridge for integrating two-factor authentication into smart contracts, enhancing security through off-chain data. Additionally, ten runner-up projects received recognition for employing Chainlink Price Reference Data, showcasing diverse applications from blockchain-based games to prediction markets. The event underscored Chainlink's capacity to facilitate universally connected smart contracts, encouraging future participation through its Community Grant and Gitcoin Bounty Programs.