In its continued attempt to become the #1 blockchain, the Solana network has begun hosting a Solana Summer Camp for development teams to participate in hackathons that lead to improvements on the Solana blockchain with advanced Dapps, APIs, and payment solutions. 

Following a disastrous summer which caused the price of Sol to drop immensely, the network is steadily seeing continued growth as projects such as y00ts and Okay Bears continue to generate activity on the blockchain. 

Hackathon Winners

Hackathons are a common way for developers to test their skills against other developers in a competitive environment and Solana is well aware of this. Earlier in September they announced a hackathon and received over 18,000 participants according to their Twitter feed. Since then, the hackathon has reached a conclusion and the Solana network has announced its winners.

1. IronForge
   IronForge, the hackathon’s Grand Champion, is a Solana-based platform that generates Accounts and Transactions APIs for users which simplify frontend development for Dapps and other decentralized programs on the Solana network.  
   Using Ephemeral Clusters, developers and stakeholders can preview programs before they are deployed to test nets or the mainnet. This also allows users to receive early feedback on development to mitigate the chances of large changes needing to be arranged by the end of production.
   Afterwards, Iron Forge will also monitor and track metrics that allow the development team to note any major issues and understand the best way to improve their systems. 
   Details can be found here. 

2. Sphere Labs
   Sphere Labs also made a huge impression at the hackathon, receiving first place behind the grand champions in the payment track, with their innovative payment solutions. Their platform simplifies the process of integrating cryptocurrencies into websites so that non-tech-savvy sellers are able to join the web3 economy. 
   The Sphere payment system allows merchants to include Solana-based payments on their website which opens up their ability to sell products around the world using Sol as a currency. However, it also gives sellers the ability to add other SPL tokens to their websites, giving them the ability to accept other tokens such as USDC and Bitcoin on the Solana network as well. This grants businesses exposure to some of the largest cryptocurrencies available. 

3. StellarSol 
   The 2nd place winner in the payment track was StellerSol which has designed a payment system that allows users to purchase goods using USDC SPL tokens. This is opening the door for many major companies to buy and sell products natively with cryptocurrencies.

   One of their major accomplishments so far has been their integration with Amazon, allowing buyers to purchase directly from the website with cryptocurrencies. This level of adoption is massive and the work being accomplished by StellarSol has even caught the attention of Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of Circle. 
   The team is currently auditioning developers to design their landing page here. 

Commitment to web3 Innovation

Altogether, the amount of production being encouraged by the Solana foundation can’t be ignored. While Ethereum tends to dominate the spotlight as the most popular altcoin network, the advancements being put forth by the Solana network are massive. 

The amount of talent being brought to the Solana ecosystem is only growing and there will be no surprise if the teams and projects brought forth from this hackathon continue to expand and become integral to the future of web3.