As always, ETHDenver 2025 was an all gas no breaks, code-slinging, deal-making, brain-expanding kind of week, and Starknet Foundation right in the middle of it all.
During BUIDL Week, Starknet Foundation’s Hacker House was packed to the gills with select devs, each pushing the limits of Starknet’s tech stack. At the ETHDenver Main Event, we brought in an AI PFP photo booth and offered graffiti walls to visitors so they could visualize the things they want to create or see built.
This was the kind of week where the future of Starknet and Web3 started taking shape in real-time.
Let’s take a quick look back at the Starknet Foundation’s two weeks in Denver!
Making it real at the Denver Hacker House
The Starknet Hacker House turned into a war room for innovation. Sleep was optional. Deployments were mandatory. Whiteboards didn’t stand a chance against the furious scribbling of markers.
Teams rolled in with ideas and left with working prototypes, ZK-based gaming mechanics, new frameworks, better tooling, and projects that could very well redefine what’s possible on Starknet. Ideas were bouncing off of every surface, as devs shared knowledge and mentors offered tips.
After four days of hacking came Demo Day, select teams put it all on the line. Pitches were focused, demos were informative, and the competition was tight.
Only three teams walked away with top honors:
🏆 Winner 1 — Ten Percent
🏆 Winner 2 — Ponziland
🏆 Winner 3 — Starknet Liquidity Manager
Regardless of where teams placed in the Hacker House competition, all participants are now ready for the next step in the Starknet founder and developer journey — applying for a Starknet Foundation Seed Grant.
After landing grants, some teams will bring their POC or MVP to Mainnet. Others might change the game entirely.
AI PFPs, graffiti idea boards, and ZK chats at Main Event
Starknet Foundation’s ETHDenver booth had everything — big brains, bigger ideas, and a couple hundred AI-generated astronaut stickers. Positioned right near the entrance to all the booths, it quickly became the go-to spot for anyone trying to go deeper into zero-knowledge scaling, explore new projects, or just see what the hell we were up to.
Two things had people talking:
- AI PFP Photo Booth — Our system transformed visitor photo portraits into AI-generated astronaut PFPs. They walked away with printed stickers and a digital version in their inbox.
- "What Would You Build?" Graffiti Walls – Two massive black walls were the canvases upon which people scribbled their Web3 dreams. Some wrote serious ideas for decentralized protocols and on-chain AI. Some wrote things that should probably stay anonymous. Either way, it was a snapshot of a crypto crowd thinking way outside the box.
Some left inspired. Others left questioning their life choices.
Either way, they had proof they were at ETHDenver 2025.
Side Events: Where the real alpha happened
Beyond the booth, Starknet side events were where the best conversations happened — minus all of the main event mayhem.
- D-Drops Denver City Hunt — A city-wide, on-chain treasure hunt where explorers cracked challenges, visited the Starknet booth, and earned loot. Proof of brain and proof of grind, all in one.
- Starknet VC & Founders Lounge — An invite-only speakeasy for builders and backers. Deals were made. Projects got funding. Alpha was shared.
- Web3 Marketers Hackathon — A marketing hackathon that proved shilling is an art form. The best minds tackled Starknet ecosystem challenges and found new ways to tell the story of on-chain innovation.
- Dojo Day — A full-day gathering for on-chain gaming fanatics, featuring deep dives into game development, networking, and visions for how fully on-chain games will actually work.
- NoirCon — A conference for ZK builders looking to push the boundaries of privacy and computation. The discussions here weren’t just theoretical — the groundwork was laid for the next era of provable computation.
The future is now: so what’s next?
ETHDenver 2025 was proof that the next cycle of Web3 isn’t about speculation — it’s about building. Starknet Foundation is ensuring that the Starknet ecosystem continues to grow, attracting the sharpest minds and setting the stage for what’s next.If you dropped by our booth, whether to chat ZK, get an AI PFP, or tag our walls with your wildest web3 dreams, we want to hear from you.
If you want to get started on your Starknet founder or developer journey, register now for:
Founder Basecamp — https://tinyurl.com/FounderHQ-Video
Basecamp 12 — https://tinyurl.com/Basecamp12-Video
To everyone who hacked, pitched, built, debated, and dreamed with us — we thank you!
The energy from Denver is carrying us forward, and the best part?
We’re just getting started.
