Nearly 1,000 Developers Build AI Agents at Consensus Miami EasyA Hackathon

Nearly 1,000 developers competed at the EasyA Hackathon tucked inside Consensus Miami 2026, with builders from ecosystems like Base and Solana and engineers from companies like Microsoft and Google racing to build products around AI agents.

“AI agents fueled a frenzy of startup building at the Consensus Miami EasyA hackathon Nearly 1,000 developers competed at the venue, from ecosystems like Base, Solana, and others arriving from companies like Microsoft and Google, most racing to build products around the theme of AI agents”

@coindesk

CoinDesk described the event as evolving from a crypto coding competition into a launchpad for billion-dollar startups, quoting Dom Kwok saying, "We want billion-dollar companies coming out of EasyA."

@coindesk

CoinCentral said the shift is drawing attention from developers, investors, and major tech companies, and noted that the EasyA Hackathon looked "more like a giant AI startup lab."

CoinDesk also reported that Coinbase sponsored challenges around x402, an emerging framework developers are experimenting with for AI-agent payments and interactions, while Solana and Solana Mobile pushed teams toward mobile-first applications and consumer experiences.

In the Kickstart Track, CoinDesk reported prizes including $50,000 for first place and named FlyPraxis as the winner, pitching it as "Palantir, but in real time" for military operators.

CoinCentral said AWS moved the conversation forward by announcing Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Payments, a preview feature built in partnership with Coinbase and Stripe.

CoinCentral described AgentCore Payments as letting AI agents pay for web content, APIs, MCP servers, and other agents, and said the system is designed for microtransactions, including payments for paid APIs, MCP servers, and content.

CoinCentral

The same source said Coinbase and Stripe provide the wallet infrastructure and payment rails, while CoinMarketCap reported that AgentCore Payments uses USDC with transactions settling on Base and Solana.

CoinDesk framed the hackathon’s agent focus as shifting from infrastructure tools toward AI-powered consumer applications and autonomous agents, echoing organizers’ description of 2026 as the "Year of the Application Layer."

CoinDesk also reported that the winners pushed AI agents beyond chatbots into real-world coordination, automation and commerce, whether through hardware, payments infrastructure or consumer-facing apps.

CoinCentral warned that AI agents that can spend money will need spending limits, identity checks, and fraud protection, and said regulators may scrutinize autonomous agents moving stablecoins at scale.

The same source cautioned investors to look for real users, working products, developer activity, and clear token utility, while noting that past cycles saw projects attach buzzwords like “metaverse” or “AI” without delivering functional products.

CoinDesk said EasyA co-founders Dom and Philip Kwok pointed to past outcomes, including that their other hackathons produced a $10 billion company and that a Harvard team that pitched at a previous EasyA event founded "Cognition AI," valued at roughly $10 billion.

CoinDesk reported that in the Solana Mobile track, first place went to Parabola, a decentralized prediction and estimation market built on Solana, and that second place went to Snakr, an AI-powered food intelligence app that lets shoppers scan products to identify potential health risks, FDA recalls and ingredient concerns.

CoinCentral tied the narrative’s momentum to developer activity at events like Consensus Miami, saying that when builders start shipping products rather than just discussing ideas, investors tend to take notice.