Building Tontine.money: 36 Hours of Hacking at ETHGlobal Bangkok
The Unexpected Journey
I had never done a hackathon before, and I had never been to Southeast Asia either. So when two internet friends currently in Bangkok proposed I join their team for the ETHGlobal Bangkok hackathon, it was definitely stepping out of my comfort zone. The event was a major web3/Ethereum hackathon with an impressive $800,000 prize pool spread across various sponsor prizes. But I quickly decided to join them and booked my flight to Bangkok.
Finding Our Path
I first met my team one day before the hackathon, and we stared brainstorming. Like everyone else, we first tried to add what was trending : AI and AI agents. But after several hours, we couldn't agree on anything that felt right.
The hackathon officially kicked off on Friday. The venue was buzzing with sponsor booths offering swag and merch. We made sure to visit almost all of them, partly for the free stuff (I'll admit the Celo team had my favorite merch), but mainly because talking with different teams helped spark ideas.
These conversations eventually led us toward building on the Celo Minipay app. We started with the concept of a lending/borrowing protocol, but it evolved into something more interesting: a free lottery app where people put their savings in a pool, and every week one random user is chosen to receive all the yield from the pool.
The 36-Hour Sprint
We had exactly 36 hours to build our product, from Friday 9 PM to Sunday 9 AM. To get everyone aligned, I started by proposing different UI designs. Having a clear visual direction helped us understand what needed to be built and where we were heading.
One of the best parts of the hackathon was having sponsors right there in the venue. We could walk up to them anytime for feedback rr ask for help. When we showed our concept to the Celo team, their response was encouraging: "I don't understand why it's not already existing on our marketplace." That's when we knew we were onto something good.
Despite the time crunch, we tried to stay sustainable. We called it a night at 3 AM on Friday to keep some strength for the final push the next day.
Building the Product
Saturday saw rapid progress. Thanks to AI tools, I could quickly iterate through different UI styles, helping us reach a functional MVP faster than expected.
The Celo team's feedback was particularly valuable for our storytelling. Since we were building on Minipay (a mobile app that integrates with the Celo blockchain), our main customers would be people from emerging markets who aren't necessarily crypto-savvy. This insight helped us adapt our wording and presentation accordingly.
Finding Our Edge
What really helped us stand out was our unique angle: we branded the app as a safe alternative for people with gambling addiction. Instead of risking their money, users could satisfy their gambling urge while actually saving money. Looking back, I think this framing was crucial to our success.
The Final Push (With a Plot Twist)
When we got closer to the deadline, we started to prepare for the demo. I had to adapt the UI to include some hardcoded behaviors for a smooth live demonstration. While two other members of our team tried to integrate some additional sponsor technologies in the last minute to maximize our chances of winning prizes.
Unfortunately, I got hit by food poisoning and couldn't help anymore. I had to go home. So I wasn't present when my team showcased the project to the judges and sponsors. Despite my absence, they did an amazing job and we secured two major prizes:
- 🏆 1st place for "Best responsive web app built for mobile" from Celo ($3,500 in USDC)
- 🏆 3rd place for "Best use of The Graph" ($1,500 in USDC)
Not bad for a first hackathon!
What's Next
The hackathon might be over, but we're not done with our project. We're continuing to develop Tontine.money, not necessarily to make money from it, but to gain exposure and potentially build stronger connections with the Celo team.
This was my first hackathon experience, and despite the food poisoning, I absolutely loved it. I'm already looking forward to the next one in Taiwan!
Quick Stats
- Duration: 36 hours of building
- Prize Pool: $800,000
- Hackers : 2700 peoples
- Team Size: 5 members (4 devs)
- Food Poisoning Episodes: 1 (unfortunately timed)