San Francisco-based Stellar.org is inviting developers from West Africa to apply to the first Stellar Build Challenge, with US$3 million of lumen virtual currency to be awarded as prizes.
Stellar.org supports the creation of a universal financial platform; and operates the Stellar Network – a free, open-source network that connects diverse financial systems and lets anyone build low-cost financial services – payments, savings, loans, insurance – for their community. The Build Challenge aims to encourage creativity and technical development in the ecosystem.
The Challenge asks developers to build solutions around four categories: anchors, exchanges, applications, and first-time submissions.
The anchors category seeks banks, licensed money-service providers, or mobile money operators that accept deposits, issue credits, and honour withdrawals on the Stellar network. Entries will be evaluated based on usage and uptake. Winners of the anchors category will be awarded annually, and there will be four prizes, ranging from 22 million lumens to 55 million lumens.
An exchange is a platform that supports lumen trading. Entries will be evaluated by the lumen volume on the qualifying exchange. Winners of the exchanges category will be awarded annually, and there will be four prizes, ranging from 5 million lumens to 33 million lumens.
Within the applications category, the focus is on the three subcategories – wallets, most active forum dedicated to Stellar, and most innovative applications. Award recipients will be determined by a panel of community members. Winners of the application category will be awarded quarterly, and there will be multiple prizes for each subcategory, ranging from 2.7 million lumens to 11 million lumens.
To encourage developers new to the Stellar ecosystem to build, each first-time submission from a unique GitHub account will be awarded 200,000 lumens.
“With every visit to West Africa, we’re continually impressed by the talented tech communities we’ve come across” said Jed McCaleb, chief technical officer (CTO) of Stellar.org.
“Our goal with the Stellar Build Challenge is for local developers across West Africa and elsewhere to use Stellar’s open financial platform to build applications that serve their audiences. We’re excited to work with these communities, and to see the innovative results.”
Applications open today (September 1) here, and close on September 20. The first winners will be announced on October 1.
