Taylan Bal@midasbal

GridMint is a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) protocol that enables real-time micro-energy trading between autonomous agents. Built on Arc Testnet with Circle USDC settlement, the system demonstrates how blockchain can power next-generation energy markets with radical cost efficiency, achieving 24,700× lower gas costs compared to Ethereum. The protocol features autonomous solar producers, battery storage operators, and consumer agents that trade energy every 3 seconds using game-theoretic pricing mechanisms. Schelling point convergence ensures fair market prices through multiplicative weights learning, while Shapley coalitions enable battery-solar cooperation for grid stability. An x402 paywall demonstrates API monetization, and Google Gemini AI provides real-time market analysis and autonomous battery trading decisions. All transactions settle on-chain via Circle USDC, with verifiable proof available on ArcScan. The system showcases the future of micro-commerce: instant, low-cost, autonomous payments at scale.

In this hybrid hackathon powered by Arc and Circle, developers will build the next generation of Agentic economic applications using Circle’s Nanopayments infrastructure with settlement on Arc in USDC. For the first time, high-frequency, usage-based transactions between users, APIs, and AI agents can operate without gas overhead eroding margin. Arc provides stablecoin-native settlement with predictable, dollar-denominated USDC fees and deterministic, sub-second finality — enabling real-time coordination and economically viable per-action pricing at scale. 📅 April 20 – 26, 2026 • Apr 20 – 25 (Online): Submit projects by Apr 25. • Apr 25 (On-site Build – SF, CA): Teams refine projects. • Apr 26 (On-site Demos & Awards – SF, CA): Live pitches & winners announced. Get guidance from Arc and Circle experts through on-site support. 📍 On-site Venue (April 25-26): MindsDB SF AI Collective 3154 17th St, San Francisco, California, USA 🤝 Go solo or team up, it's your flow. 🏆 Compete for a $15,000+ Prize Pool. 📍 Please note: If approved for the on-site experience, you’ll also have the opportunity to showcase your project live. Travel and accommodation will not be covered. 🧑🏻‍💻 Secure your spot now – sign up before the Kick-Off Stream!

⏱️ Design, build, and deploy trustless AI trading agents. 📅 March 30 – April 12, 2026 🌐 Build AI trading agents that execute strategies using ERC-8004 or Kraken CLI. 🤝 Build solo or in teams to create autonomous trading, risk, yield, or protection agents. 💰 $55,000 prize pool, allocated and shared via Surge and Kraken. Your team should have registered project at early.surge.xyz in order to be eligible for the prize. Get access in your team profile or our discord 🔑 Access to early.surge.xyz If prompted for login credentials, use: • Username: admin • Password: JBRv2xWG7AzwVrLz88