ETHBishkek 2025: Central Asia’s First Ethereum Hackathon Showcases Gasless Status Network Winners
ETHBishkek 2025, held in Bishkek from Oct 24–26, was Central Asia’s first Ethereum-focused hackathon, convening ~180 builders with a $22,000 prize pool and post-event support including partner bounties and a two-week Silicon Valley training. The Status Network track — a Linea-based zkEVM L2 that provides gasless infrastructure — attracted 17 teams. Winners demonstrated practical, fee-free on-chain UX: 1st place Workbench built a gasless ERC-1155 crafting protocol for on-chain game economies; 2nd place Whisp created a censorship-resistant privacy social protocol combining Semaphore and gasless proofs to enable anonymous yet verifiable group signals; 3rd place StatusGrow launched a gasless quest/onboarding platform using RLN to limit bots and distribute token/NFT rewards. Organizers emphasized mentorship, workshops, 48 hours of hacking and ongoing support to bring prototypes to market. The event underscores Status Network’s strategy to remove transaction-fee friction and improve Web3 usability, potentially accelerating developer activity and user onboarding in the region.
Neutral
This hackathon is a positive development for developer activity and Web3 usability but unlikely to move crypto market prices materially in the short term. The news signals increased developer interest in gasless UX and concrete prototypes (gaming, privacy social, onboarding), which could boost long-term adoption and utility for networks that support fee-less experiences. Historically, hackathon wins and developer momentum tend to produce gradual, structural benefits (ecosystem growth, partnerships, token utility) rather than immediate price rallies. Traders may see modest speculative interest in related tokens if follow-up funding, integrations, or large partnerships are announced, but absent token releases or significant capital flows the immediate market impact should remain neutral. Short-term: possible localized attention or small spec spikes for involved projects. Long-term: constructive for adoption, developer tooling, and utility that could support bullish fundamentals if gasless infrastructure is widely adopted.