PancakeSwap announced the launch of its "v4 Hookathon" as part of its $500K Developer Program. This hackathon invites developers to innovate and build within the PancakeSwap v4 ecosystem using the Brevis ZK-Coprocessor. 

With a prize pool of $40,000, the competition aims to push the boundaries of decentralized finance (DeFi) by enhancing functionality and addressing challenges within the PancakeSwap v4 platform.

The primary goal is to create Hooks—customizable smart contracts integrated with liquidity pools that execute predefined logic before or after key actions such as swaps and position modifications. 

Participants can leverage the Brevis ZK-Coprocessor to develop Hooks that provide advanced features, including dynamic fees and impermanent loss mitigation.

What is Brevis zk-Compressor?

The Brevis ZK-Coprocessor is a smart contract enhancement tool that brings advanced capabilities to blockchain applications.

It allows developers to query and analyze historical on-chain data from any blockchain while maintaining trustlessness. This reportedly enables the creation of sophisticated solutions such as loyalty programs, exclusive access pools, and improved liquidity management.

PancakeSwap v4 supports Hooks, which enhance the customization of liquidity pools. These Hooks can implement a range of features, including:

• Dynamic Fees: Adjust fees based on market conditions.

• Active Liquidity Management: Enable protocols to adapt their liquidity strategies dynamically.

• Impermanent Loss Mitigation: Reduce risks associated with price fluctuations.

• Custom Incentives: Implement reward mechanisms tailored to specific user behaviors.

Hackathon Details and Potential Ideas

The v4 Hookathon offers a single open track, encouraging diverse and creative solutions. Participants are invited to tackle existing pain points within the PancakeSwap ecosystem. 

Potential ideas include Liquidity Incentivization mechanisms, Active Liquidity Manager protocol, Market-Making Bot, Exclusive-Access Pools, KYC-Enabled Pools and Yield Manager Protocol.

Prize Distribution

The prize pool of $40,000 will be distributed as follows:

• 1st Prize: $12,000

• 2nd Prize: $10,000

• 3rd Prize: $8,000

• 4th Prize: $6,000

• 5th Prize: $4,000

Prizes will be awarded in USDC on the BNB Chain and distributed within four weeks of the hackathon's conclusion.

Key Dates

• Registration Opens: September 2, 12 PM UTC

• Opening Ceremony: September 4, 12 PM UTC, hosted on DoraHacks YT

• v4 Hook Creation Workshop: September 9, 12 PM UTC, hosted on DoraHacks YT

• Submissions Close: September 30, 12 PM UTC

• Finalist Announcement: October 7, 12 PM UTC

• Finalist Demos: October 10-17, 12 PM UTC (Online)

• Winners Announcement: October 24, 12 PM UTC

• Hackathon Winners AMA: October 28 - November 1, 12 PM UTC

Looking Ahead

The v4 Hookathon is part of PancakeSwap's broader roadmap for Q3 2024, which includes the highly anticipated launch of PancakeSwap V4. This upgrade promises improved trading functionalities, a new Web3 quest platform, expanded veCAKE token model, and enhancements to its gaming marketplace.