HackMeridian 2026: Stellar's Lisbon Hackathon Explained
HackMeridian 2026 runs 25-26 October in Lisbon before Meridian. Paths, tracks, the $30,000 prize pool, judging weights and how winners reach Stellar funding.
WhaleHub Research
Last updated: October 2026
6 min read
Updated 23 October 2026: format, paths, prizes and judging from hackmeridian.com and its FAQ; finalist slot from the Meridian schedule; 2025 results from SDF's Meridian 2025 recap.
HackMeridian 2026 is the two-day hackathon that opens Stellar's conference week in Lisbon. It runs on 25-26 October at Warehouse ONE16, offers $30,000 in prizes across two paths, and sends its finalists to pitch on stage at Meridian 2026 two days later. Here is how it works.
HackMeridian 2026 at a glance
| Dates | Sun 25 Oct, 09:00 - Mon 26 Oct, 16:00 (submissions close 12:00 Monday) |
|---|---|
| Venue | Warehouse ONE16, Rua Pereira Henriques, Lisbon. In person only |
| Paths | Genesis (idea to MVP) and Scale (prototype to product) |
| Prizes | $30,000 total across both paths, per the FAQ |
| Teams | Up to 5 people; solo applicants welcome |
| Finals | Live pitch at Meridian, Wed 28 Oct, 13:50 |
What HackMeridian is
HackMeridian is an in-person hackathon tied to Meridian, the Stellar Development Foundation's annual conference. Teams build a project on Stellar over roughly a day and a half, submit it by noon on the second day, and the strongest move on to a live pitch at the main conference.
It is not a general crypto hackathon. Projects are judged partly on how well they use Stellar and its ecosystem, and the stated aim is that winning teams keep building on the network afterwards.
The two paths
Genesis: idea to MVP
For new ideas and early prototypes, aimed at people with a strong problem but limited Stellar experience. Genesis has two tracks, and teams can enter both:
- Stellar Unlocked: build on Stellar's core protocol features, such as built-in assets, the DEX, anchors or Soroban smart contracts.
- Stellar Composed: combine two or more existing ecosystem tools or projects, for example a wallet with a lending protocol, or an oracle with an AMM.
Scale: prototype to product
For teams with an existing product or an advanced prototype. Scale has no tracks. The product can already be on Stellar or be brought onto Stellar during the event, so experience on the network is not required.
How judging works
Judging is asynchronous: judges from the Stellar ecosystem and partners review a demo video, pitch deck, GitHub repository and written answers. Only finalists pitch live. The rubric scores seven criteria from 1 to 5, weighted as below.
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Track alignment (Genesis) or ecosystem alignment (Scale) | 20% |
| User value and problem | 20% |
| Technical execution | 15% |
| Innovation | 15% |
| Progress made during the hackathon | 10% |
| Market and ecosystem potential | 10% |
| Product design and UX | 10% |
The organisers rank their priorities as adoption first, then discovery, then continuation: they want things people would use, built by teams likely to keep going. AI-assisted coding tools are allowed.
Prizes
The HackMeridian FAQ gives $30,000 in total across Genesis and Scale, with the per-place breakdown to be announced before the event. A session page on the Meridian site, "HackMeridian Winners Circle", mentions a $50,000 prize pool and a 36-hour format. We could not reconcile the two from public pages, so we use the hackathon's own figure; check hackmeridian.com for the final numbers.
What happened at HackMeridian 2025
The 2025 edition, held before Meridian in Rio de Janeiro, drew more than 400 builders and over 110 submissions, according to SDF's recap. Six teams pitched on the Meridian main stage.
| Track (2025) | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Innovation (56 projects) | The Simple Fund | 4Bridge | Stellar Forge |
| Composability (35 teams) | Lance | Star Lends | Panorama Block |
A separate competition, the Stellar i³ hackathon, also announced winners at Meridian 2025, 100,000 XLM each: Decaf, Etherfuse and DeFindex. DeFindex is now one of the larger vault platforms on Stellar, with $19.2M on DefiLlama on 24 October 2026, which shows the route from a hackathon stage to a real product.
After the hackathon: funding
HackMeridian's FAQ says top projects move forward with "funding pathways, mentorship, and partnerships" in the Stellar ecosystem. It does not name a specific programme. In practice the main route for a team that wants to keep building is the Stellar Community Fund, SDF's grant programme paid in XLM; Meridian 2026 itself includes seven SCF pitch blocks across both days, from DeFi to AI to developer tooling.
Where the gaps are
For builders choosing what to make, these are areas where Stellar DeFi is thin, based on our own coverage:
- Using tokenized funds as collateral. Billions in RWAs sit on Stellar but few are usable in lending. See RWAs as DeFi collateral.
- Risk tooling. Monitoring for oracle manipulation after Blend's 2026 incidents.
- Agent payments. Wallets and services for x402 payments on Stellar.
- Simple yield in wallets. Composing Blend, DeFindex or Reflector into consumer apps fits the Stellar Composed track directly.
How to prepare
A day and a half goes quickly. Teams that do well usually arrive with the slow parts done:
- Toolchain installed. Rust, the stellar CLI and a Soroban project template, so the first hour is spent building rather than installing. Start from our Soroban primer.
- Testnet accounts funded. Create and fund testnet keys with Friendbot before the clock starts.
- A wallet chosen. Freighter is the usual choice for signing Soroban transactions in a browser; passkey smart wallets suit consumer demos. See Stellar wallets and passkey smart wallets.
- The integrations you plan to use, read. For the Stellar Composed track, skim the docs of the two or three protocols you will combine, for example a price oracle, an AMM and a lending pool.
What a strong submission looks like
Reading the rubric, 40% of the score is alignment and user value, and only 15% is technical execution. That favours a narrow, working product for a clear user over an ambitious build that half works. Four practical points follow from the published criteria:
- Name the user and the problem in the first ten seconds of the demo video. Judges review asynchronously, so the video does the pitching.
- Show it running on Stellar. A live testnet transaction is stronger evidence than a slide.
- Make the repository readable. A README that explains how to run it, and commits that show what was built during the event, since progress during the hackathon is scored.
- Say what happens next. "Continuation" is one of the organisers' three priorities; a plan to apply to the Stellar Community Fund fits that.
Practical notes
- Travel support applications closed on 15 October; a limited number of hostel beds were offered to supported builders.
- Applications run through Bizzabo; team and project access is at app.hackmeridian.com.
- The closing ceremony is at 15:30 on Monday 26 October.
Frequently asked questions
When and where is HackMeridian 2026?
Sunday 25 and Monday 26 October 2026 at Warehouse ONE16 in Lisbon. Hacking runs from 9am on Sunday until submissions close at noon on Monday. It is in person only.
How much prize money is there?
The HackMeridian FAQ says $30,000 in total across the Genesis and Scale paths, with the breakdown announced before the event. A session page on the Meridian site mentions $50,000; we use the hackathon's own figure and note the difference.
Do I need Stellar experience?
No. The Genesis path is designed for builders with a strong problem but little Stellar experience, and the Scale path accepts products that are not yet on Stellar and are brought onto it during the event.
How are projects judged?
Asynchronously, from a demo video, pitch deck, GitHub repository and written answers. Seven criteria are scored 1-5: alignment (20%), user value and problem (20%), technical execution (15%), innovation (15%), progress during the hackathon (10%), market potential (10%) and product design (10%). Finalists pitch live at Meridian on 28 October.
Is HackMeridian connected to the Stellar Community Fund?
The FAQ says top projects move forward with funding pathways, mentorship and partnerships in the Stellar ecosystem, without naming the Stellar Community Fund. SCF is Stellar's main grant programme, so it is the obvious next step for a team that wants to keep building.
WhaleHub is a yield-optimization protocol on Stellar. We stake AQUA, aggregate ICE voting power, and auto-compound Aquarius rewards for stakers. This series explains the Stellar DeFi stack — and the wider market around it — in plain English.
Read more
Going to Meridian? Put your AQUA to work first
WhaleHub stakes AQUA, pools ICE voting power on Aquarius and can restake your rewards automatically, so your position keeps compounding while you are in Lisbon.
Launch the appThis article is for education only and is not financial advice. Event details are taken from the organisers' published pages as of the date shown and can change; figures change constantly. Check the official sources before acting.