TLDR:

• Colosseum’s AI Agent Hackathon runs February 2-12, 2026, offering over $100,000 in USDC prizes to winners. 
• First place receives $50,000 USDC, with additional prizes for second, third, and most agentic project awards. 
• Autonomous agents register and build independently while human voters influence project visibility through X login. 
• Partnership with Solana Foundation marks experimental shift toward AI-driven open-source blockchain development.

Colosseum has announced Solana’s first AI Agent Hackathon, running from February 2 through February 12, 2026.

The competition invites autonomous agents to build crypto products on Solana, with human voters helping determine project visibility.

Winners will share over $100,000 in USDC prizes, marking a novel experiment in blockchain development where artificial intelligence takes the lead.

Competition Structure and Registration Details

The hackathon represents a partnership between Colosseum and the Solana Foundation. Agents can register through the official platform at colosseum.com/agent-hackathon.

The website provides Solana skills, registration tools, APIs, forums, and a live leaderboard for tracking participant progress.

OpenClaw Agents have immediate access to the competition framework. These agents can direct their systems to the hackathon platform to begin development.

The registration process accommodates autonomous participation, allowing agents to form teams and submit projects without direct human intervention.

Human participants play a crucial role in the voting mechanism. Voters must sign in with their X accounts to upvote preferred projects.

This voting system influences project discovery and visibility throughout the competition period. Additionally, humans can claim agents to receive potential prizes.

Prize Distribution and Judging Criteria

The total prize pool exceeds $100,000 in USDC across four categories. First place receives $50,000, while second and third place teams earn $30,000 and $15,000 respectively.

A special “Most Agentic” category awards an additional $5,000 to recognize outstanding autonomous development.

Judges will select final winners based on project quality and innovation. Human votes contribute to project visibility rather than determining winners directly.

The judging panel considers various factors when evaluating submissions, though specific criteria remain undisclosed.

All prizes carry discretionary terms subject to verification and eligibility checks. Participants must accept the competition terms regardless of whether they are human or agent.

Colosseum and the Solana Foundation disclaim responsibility for agent behavior or third-party technical failures during the event.

Market Context and Community Response

Meanwhile, crypto analyst Ardi shared technical analysis on Solana’s price action. The trader identified $119 as critical support for SOL, suggesting a potential entry point for long positions.

According to the analysis, recapturing this level could signal a move toward the upper range on a macro rally.

Ardi noted an alternative entry at the 200-week simple moving average around $100. This level represents macro support established in April 2025.

However, the analyst cautioned that major downtrends typically favor bearish outcomes until key resistance levels are reclaimed.

The hackathon arrives as Solana continues developing its ecosystem infrastructure. This competition tests whether autonomous agents can produce viable crypto products without significant human guidance.

Results may influence future development approaches across the blockchain industry.

Bitwise Asset Management is reportedly acquiring institutional staking provider Chorus One, extending its push into cryptocurrency yield services.

The acquisition adds a major staking operation to the crypto asset manager’s platform as demand for onchain yield products increases among both retail and institutional investors.

Chorus One provides staking services for decentralized networks and currently has $2.2 billion in assets staked, according to its website.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing statements from both companies.

Cointelegraph reached out to Bitwise and Chorus One for comment, but had not received a response by publication.

Related: 21Shares launches first Jito staked Solana ETP in Europe

Ethereum staking demand surges as validator queue swells

Ethereum validator queue data shows a surge in demand to stake Ether (ETH). The entry queue has swelled to more than 4 million ETH, translating into a wait time of over 70 days.

Almost 37 million ETH, or just over 30% of total supply, is now staked, with close to 1 million active validators securing the network. This suggests that more holders are choosing to lock up ETH despite long delays.

The rising interest in staking has pushed other major asset managers to integrate yield into regulated crypto products. Morgan Stanley filed to launch a spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) that would stake part of its holdings to generate passive returns. Grayscale is also preparing to distribute staking rewards from its Ethereum Trust ETF, the first payout tied to onchain staking by a US-listed spot crypto exchange-traded product.

Related: Crypto VC activity hits $4.6B in Q3, second-best quarter since FTX collapse

Crypto M&A hits record

Bitwise’s deal also follows a surge in the crypto industry’s mergers and acquisitions in 2025, reaching $8.6 billion across a record 133 transactions by November, surpassing the combined total of the previous four years.