Together with a team of peers from 42 Heilbronn, I had the incredible opportunity to participate in the ETHGlobal Web3 Hackathon in Brussels. For all of us, it was our first experience at a hackathon and my first real exposure to Web3 applications. The event was both a challenging and enriching milestone in our learning journey.
Our project idea was to develop a crowdfunding app with a unique stakeholder refund mechanism. The concept aimed to allow users to fund projects using Ethereum (ETH) or other popular cryptocurrencies. If specific goals weren’t met, stakeholders could reclaim their investments. The application relied on a combination of smart contracts and a React-based frontend, with Ethers.js managing communication between the two layers.
While we successfully set up the initial smart contract logic and frontend, integrating them proved to be more challenging than anticipated. The communication between the components using Ethers.js posed technical issues we couldn’t fully resolve within the hackathon timeframe. Despite this, we gained invaluable experience in understanding Web3 technologies, troubleshooting real-world development challenges, and collaborating under time constraints.
Beyond the technical learning, the hackathon was an exciting introduction to the Web3 community. Engaging with other participants, mentors, and experts provided inspiration and insights into the potential of decentralized applications. Even though we couldn’t complete our project as planned, the event was a rewarding experience that fueled our passion for innovation and team-driven development.
