"Dynamic" is the perfect word to describe the Neo ecosystem in the month of July. This month saw extensive engagement in the ongoing Neo APAC Hackathon, filling the ecosystem with fresh energy. 

The month was also packed with dynamic, community-driven events and exciting progress among projects throughout the ecosystem. Check out the details in this report. 

🙌 Neo APAC Hackathon Updates

On July 6th, Neo kicked off the Neo APAC Hackathon in partnership with OKX, the second-largest global crypto exchange by trading volume and a leading Web3 ecosystem. This event, running from July through October 2023, takes the innovative approach of blending online participation with in-person hacking weekends across six APAC cities. With a substantial prize pool of US $120,000 for winners and an additional $1 million grant fund from the Neo Foundation, this hybrid online and offline initiative aligns with recent, promising regulatory advancements in the APAC region to promote blockchain growth. 

As a part of the collaboration, OKX crafted a set of exclusive NFTs for hackathon participants. These 5,000 NFTs were quickly snatched up upon release and are now tradeable on the OKX NFT marketplace.

For comprehensive information about the Neo APAC Hackathon (including rules, past and upcoming GAS Stations offline stops, virtual events, the October finale in Hong Kong and more), we encourage you to head over to the official hackathon website. 

Meantime, here’s a look at the events that unfolded in the hackathon’s inaugural month.

🎙️ Virtual Kick-Off Call

On July 6th, John Wang (Head of Eco-growth at Neo Global Development (NGD)), Steven Liu (Head of Development at NGD), and Dylan Grabowski (Editor at Neo News Today) kicked off the Neo APAC Hackathon through a YouTube livestream. They delved into the objectives and logistics of this latest Neo hackathon and shared an overview of Neo's developer-friendly stack that makes Neo the ideal blockchain to welcome Web2 developers into the world of Web3.

🇯🇵 City GAS Stations — Tokyo GAS Station

Neo launched the Neo APAC Hackathon's offline event series on July 22-23 with the Tokyo GAS Station. This event, hosted in partnership with prominent industry players including StartFund, Amber, and BingVenture, and featuring prize pool support from AWS and Alibaba Cloud in addition to the prizes from NGD, started the offline event series in style at CryptoBase in Shibuya, Tokyo.

The Tokyo GAS Station attracted a strong turnout, with participation from several dozen attendees and more than 10 projects. The event provided a rich platform for fresh new innovation, engaging discussions, and meaningful interactions.

Neo and Tokyo GAS Station attendees shared captivating snapshots on Twitter, capturing the energetic atmosphere created by Web3 enthusiasts immersed in vibrant discussions and collaborative efforts. To enjoy action shots of the live event, you can search for the hashtags #NeoAPACHackathon and #NeoHackathonTokyo. 

Three teams emerged victorious to claim prizes at this first GAS Station event: 

• Kekkai stood out with an innovative approach to Web3 security that uses a transaction simulator to safeguard users against phishing attacks. 

• Chainrewardz received well-deserved acclaim for its ingenious rewards system design. 

• FUO showcased a groundbreaking SocialFi concept, integrating marketing promotions and NFTs by partnering with renowned NFT artists and IPs from Japan's vibrant fan economy.

KaratDAO and Neo joined forces to co-host an afterparty, providing a welcoming platform for participants, speakers, and hackathon judges to hold further meaningful conversations and forge deeper connections.

📼 Panel Discussion Recordings

To inspire ideas with an inside look at technology and projects across the hackathon’s five competition tracks, Neo also has hosted a series of Twitter Spaces events. These began in July and continued through August. Recordings of the sessions are available here: 

• Transforming Finance with Decentralization

• NFTs: Redefining Value, Authenticity, and Digital Interactions

• Examining Decentralization, Engagement, and Governance in Tech

• Middlewares for Blockchain Performance Improvement

• Building the Future: Hackathon Alumni Experience Sharing

📼 Workshop Recordings

The hackathon also features a series of YouTube or Discord live stream calls delivered by Neo, members of the Neo developer community, and other ecosystem project team members. These sessions are designed to help hackathon participants foster their technical skills on Neo N3 with hands-on coding lessons. Links to useful recent technical tutorials and to sessions new to the Neo APAC Hackathon include: 

• Neo Technical Tutorials

• Coding Smart Contract in Go

• Coding Smart Contract in Python

• Scopes and Permissions

• dApp Backend in GO

• Coding Smart Contract in Java

• Learn to Buidl on Neo with CryptoZombies

• Buidl DAO with AxLabs

🎫 Online Submission: July 22-September 24

If you are unable to attend any of the offline hackathon events throughout the APAC region, you are still eligible to compete! You have the option to simply submit your project online. The submission period opened on July 22 and runs through September 24. 

Judging will follow after the submission period closes. The judges will select 10 projects from among all qualified online entries that will move forward to the next stage of the event. These projects, along with the 10 winning teams from the hackathon’s series of offline GAS Station events, will each receive $1,000 travel grants and an invitation to the exclusive Hong Kong finale. Here, all the teams will gather to compete for the final grand prizes of $10,000 for each of the 5 hackathon categories. Following this, winners will be eligible for consideration for further support through the post-hackathon grant fund of $1 million.

🗒️ Neo General Updates

📈 Neo Community Development Updates

Nine developer communities on Neo – AxLabs, COZ, Neo News Today, NEXT, NeoResearch, NeoSPCC, NGD Digital Labs, R3E Network, and Red4Sec – shared their development updates for April and May 2023 in this YouTube video. 

You can always find the latest developer community updates here in Neo’s YouTube channel.

⚠️ Poly Network Incident 

On July 2nd, a security breach occurred in Poly Network, leading to the suspension of its services. Consequently, Neo's related functions were also temporarily halted. We maintained ongoing communication with Poly Network to stay updated on the situation and their efforts to address the incident.

Meanwhile, interoperability remains a paramount focus for Neo. The Neo community is now proactively exploring alternative pathways for interoperability. Neo envisions a future where various blockchain networks seamlessly connect. This type of interconnected landscape can enable frictionless asset transfers across chains, all executed through decentralized smart contracts. 

🛡️ Important Notice: Beware of Scams

As the Neo APAC Hackathon progresses and our brand continues to gain attention, scams are rising too. We strongly remind everyone in the Neo community and beyond to be especially vigilant when conducting asset transactions. Please only trust the information on Neo’s official Twitter profile (@Neo_Blockchain), official Neo.org website, official Neo APAC Hackathon site, and our other official social media channels listed on the official Neo website. Stay alert every time you must do a wallet verification. If you have any doubts about a transaction, visit Neo’s Discord channel to ask before you proceed. 

🙌 Community Engagement

🎙️AMA with Polychain Monsters 

In addition to Neo’s online and offline engagement this month through the Neo APAC Hackathon, Neo held an AMA on July 20th with Polychain Monsters. Sebastian, Co-Founder of Polychain Monsters, joined a Neo Live AMA session to show the community how to collect, battle, and earn with Polychain Monster’s adorable NFTs. The transcript is available here.

🇸🇬 TOKEN2049, Singapore upcoming: September 13-14 

The Neo team also continued preparations to deliver another engaging experience at the upcoming TOKEN2049. The world’s premier Web3 conference, set to see more than 10,000 attendees this year, will take place from September 13th to September 14th.  Neo founder Da Hongfei will take the stage at the event, and Neo booth visitors can connect with Neo community leaders to learn about the technology behind the developer-friendly Neo N3 blockchain and explore opportunities for business incubation support and partnership opportunities within the Neo ecosystem. 

The booth will also offer a chance to experience a new, immersive activation that bridges the physical and digital worlds, featuring OneBand, powered by NFI technology running on the Neo blockchain. To learn more about the technology, you can watch this RealTalkNFT interview with Tyler Adams, COZ cofounder. 

🌲 Ecosystem News

Neo News Today compiles weekly reports on what’s happening in various projects across the Neo ecosystem. The reports cover a range of topics including, but not limited to, product updates, NFT/token releases, airdrops, and other market or community activities. We invite you to explore these updates for a look at the many activities and achievements throughout the ecosystem in July.

July 3 — July 9: GrantShares, Flamingo, COZ, Meme2Earn, NNT

July 10 — July 16: Polychain Monsters, Unlocking the Chain, GrantShares, Flamingo, Perlin Finance, COZ

July 17 — July 23: TOTHEMOON, Meme2Earn, GrantShares, Unlocking the Chain, Flamingo, O3 Labs, GhostMarket

July 24 — July 30: Perlin Finance, COZ, Flamingo, Meme2Earn, GrantShares, NNT, COZ, TranslateMe

What’s Next

Looking ahead, you’ll find plenty of ways to get involved in upcoming happenings across the Neo ecosystem. We encourage you to take a look at the next events in the Neo APAC Hackathon agenda, plan to visit Neo at TOKEN2049 in Singapore, and watch for other technology news and exciting community events to come.