Qubic & Vottun 2025 Madrid Hackathon Recap
Written by
The Qubic Team
Mar 28, 2025
When 127 Hackers, 27 Teams, and a Testnet Collide: Qubic x Vottun Madrid Hackathon Recap.
On 22–23 March, 2025, 127 participants came together at 42 Madrid Fundación Telefónica. They formed 27 teams. Over the weekend, 24 of them pitched working projects.
It was the first time anyone had used the Qubic Testnet to deploy smart contracts in a live event. No warm-ups. Just two days to build.
The structure was simple: six core technical challenges, open-ended enough to explore. The prize pool? €80,000, plus support from Vottun, Qubic, and others. The goal? To enable projects with real-life use-cases to develop on Qubic.
Most had never touched the Qubic network before that weekend. But within hours, they were deploying smart contracts, testing on the Qubic testnet, and pushing builds to GitHub.
“We were positively surprised by the preparation. They knew the basics of Qubic, and asked in-depth questions.” — Talentnodes (Head of Operations at Qubic)
The Winners
Four teams took home top prizes and a spot in Qubic's Incubation Program:
Smashing Blocks
Built a B2IA (Blockchain-to-Intelligent Agent) system. Qubic smart contracts trigger autonomous off-chain behavior. The concept links blockchain logic to AI-driven decision-making.
€5K Cluster/Comunidad de Madrid + $25K QUBIC Incubation + Vottun APIs corporate plan + Onyze Wallet management
NevTrace
Created QubiK, a no-code, drag-and-drop builder for Qubic smart contracts. It lowers the barrier to entry and opens Qubic to builders who don't write C++.
€5K Cluster/Comunidad de Madrid + $25K QUBIC Incubation + Vottun APIs corporate plan
Qulang
A decentralised AI model marketplace powered by Qubic. Users can upload, monetise, and run AI models. A working demo was live at the event and can be seen below.
€5K Cluster/Comunidad de Madrid + $10K QUBIC Incubation + Vottun API corporate plan
G3
Designed a governance and funding platform for NGOs. Built entirely on Qubic to ensure transparency, accountability, and traceability.
€5K Cluster/Comunidad de Madrid + Vottun APIs corporate plan
“Even if some teams didn’t win, there’s high potential for them to remain part of the Qubic ecosystem.” — Alber (Ecosystem Representative for Europe)
Why These Projects Matter
Each of the winning projects highlights real-world use cases for Qubic:
Smashing Blocks connects smart contracts with autonomous systems. It’s a model for AI integration, automation, and real-world event triggering.
NevTrace brings no-code tooling to Qubic, which is critical for onboarding product designers, students, and devs from other stacks.
Qulang ties Qubic into the AI economy. Decentralised infrastructure for buying, selling, and running models.
G3 uses Qubic to boost transparency in non-profit work for NGOs. A real use case with real social value.
Challenges
Each team was asked to focus on one or more of these:
Tokenised Real-World Assets
Conditional Payments
Workflow Automation
QR Payments
Decentralised Marketplace
End-to-end Encryption + Payments
Some teams tackled one. Others combined a few. Everyone had to build using Qubic. From node setup to contract deployment, the learning curve was steep - but the results showed up on GitHub.
“The process of deploying a testnet node, setting up the RPC, and testing smart contracts has already been tested. It’ll serve as the foundation for creating a more official procedure.” — Alber, Qubic Ecosystem and Partnerships Lead
Goals vs Outcomes
The event was designed around specific goals. Here’s what they were, and how they were achieved.
Identify talented developers, especially those with an interest in blockchain, web3, and AI.
→ Teams included developers with experience in C++, AI, and blockchain. Most of the finalist projects were functional and deployed.Identify designers, business-oriented individuals interested in creating web3 solutions, and AI-focused products that integrate with blockchain.
→ Projects like Qulang and Qubik combined backend logic with interfaces designed for users. Some teams included non-technical members to assist with the creation of the value proposition and content for the pitch deck.Network with prospective developers to gauge their interest in Qubic and blockchain-related technologies.
→ Teams asked Qubic devs detailed questions about the protocol. Some shared ideas for follow-up projects after the event.Identify potential future customers, collaborators, and community members for Qubic's ecosystem.
→ Conversations during the hackathon showed interest from participants in continuing work on Qubic.Identify and develop high-impact, practical business and product ideas that can be integrated into the Qubic ecosystem.
→ Several projects addressed real-world use cases like NGO transparency, decentralised marketplaces, and visual smart contract tools.Establish a stream of valuable ideas.
→ More than a dozen public repos were submitted. Some teams continued iterating after the hackathon.Generate publicity to build brand recognition and attention for Qubic’s blockchain initiatives
→ The event was covered across X. Attendees, influencers, and community members posted threads, clips, and livestreams throughout the weekend.
“Seeing motivated people building on Qubic and asking questions in detail was a highlight for me.” — Joetom (Qubic Core Tech Architect)
Support and People Involved
Sponsors
@Vottun, @42MadridFTef, @ComunidadMadrid, @alastria, @ONYZE_official, @Tritemius3T, @Telefonica, microbit.com, @ClustersMadrid
Mentors came from Qubic, Vottun, Grant Thornton, Telefónica, Repsol, Alastria, and others.
Judges included Qubic core contributors, advisors, and ecosystem leaders.
No One Left Empty-Handed
Everyone Got Something.
Even if a team didn’t win, their work was seen. Judges left comments. GitHub links were submitted. QUBIC was distributed. The result? A stronger, broader dev community.
The hackathon was also a live stress test of the Qubic protocol - by people who started with zero experience of it and ended with smart contracts.
Want to know where Qubic goes next? Watch what these teams do with their code.
Join our next AMA or engage directly on our community channels to join the discussions.