NEW YORK [Consensus 2018], May 15, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 8base (www.8base.com), the open, extensible no-code technology platform powered by the blockchain, today announced that a team of its engineers has won first place at Consensus 2018’s Building Blocks Hackathon - AlphaPoint challenge. The team, which was led by 8base Vice President of Technology Andrei Anisimov and also included Engineering Team Lead Evgeny Semushin and Director of Design Gabriel Kelly, won first place in the the AlphaPoint challenge at the hackathon, taking home the $7,500 prize.
The team’s winning submission is called BlockSigma, a set of smart contracts that enables creation and management of derivative contracts for crypto assets. BlockSigma is integrated with both the Bancor smart token protocol and the AlphaPoint trading platform. In the future, BlockSigma's option management user interface can be integrated into the AlphaPoint trading platform allowing for the trading of derivatives, just like traditional brokers Bloomberg or TD Ameritrade.
“8base is a platform of, by and for developers, and the win for our team at the Consensus 2018 Building Blocks Hackathon is a testament to 8base’s developer-first philosophy,” said Andrei Anisimov, 8base VP of Technology. “Even though it only took a weekend to build BlockSigma, we look forward to continuing development on what will be a valuable tool for managing crypto derivatives.”
Derivatives, such as options, futures and swaps are useful tools employed by banks, funds and companies to manage risk. At the same time, derivatives are usually leveraged, meaning that a counterparty usually doesn’t have the required funds in their account to necessarily cover all risks. This leads to a complex system of settlement, maintenance margin, and margin calls.
Margin management on BlockSigma is done on-chain and does not require a centralized actor to ensure that funds locked inside of the smart contract satisfy the maintenance margin requirements. Margin calls on derivatives were considered a key factor in the U.S. and global financial system collapse of 2008. Globally, derivatives are estimated to have a market capitalization of approximately $500 trillion.
The Building Blocks Hackathon at Consensus is a $30,000 hackathon that takes place during the weekend leading up to Consensus 2018, the summit organized by leading crypto asset and blockchain event and news service CoinDesk, convening many of the world's top blockchain developers vying to build the next killer smart contract app. Participants can build on top of any blockchain protocol: bitcoin, ethereum, or any other hyperledger project.
For more information about BlockSigma and the hackathon, read the team’s blog post at https://blog.8base.com/8base-team-wins-first-prize-at-consensus-2018-hackathon-alphapoint-challenge-a8cedd7ce15d
For additional information on 8base, please visit https://www.8base.com.
About 8base
8base provides a no-code technology platform, toolset, and ecosystem to transform the way companies develop and run software. Its open, extensible platform, powered by the blockchain, harnesses development talent to create a network effect that accelerates the speed to market and positive business impact of robust new software applications. 8base unites the entire world of software authors, contributors, and users in a thriving ecosystem.
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