357
Burning Token: the results
Seven days of building, starting in San Francisco and continuing online. Here’s what your support made possible.
80
Projects built
120+
San Francisco attendees
From the founders
Thank you for backing the nerds who joined Burning Token from around the world. We gave them seven days to turn an idea into a project, try your tools and meet other builders. Your support also funded prizes for the winning teams.
We hacked too: we built an app ecosystem for participants, an organiser dashboard to run the hackathon, and a judging app to review the projects.
Here you’ll find the experience we put together, the people we reached and what they built. Thanks for making this one happen with us.
What happened
Kickoff in San Francisco.
We started at Frontier Tower on September 5. The event had 388 Luma registrations, and more than 120 nerds joined us in person.
Alongside matchmaking and time to hack, we had a magic show: ‘The magic behind Convex’. We also handed out red envelopes with cash prizes and subscriptions to your tools, and had a DJ live-coding the music.
We closed the day with a Demo Day. The judges chose three winners who shared a $750 prize pool. The global challenges had a separate prize pool of $2,500.
From the kickoff to the winners.
Photos and videos from San Francisco, followed by our winner announcements.
NERDCONF@nerdconf_ar
BURNING TOKEN WAS MORE THAN JUST A HACKATHON... IT WAS A NERDY FESTIVAL. The SF Kickoff featured a magic show, robots, mysterious red envelopes, face-paint tattoos, a live-coding DJ, and lots of nerds (duh). Throughout the week-long hackathon, we had: +350 nerds participating +60 projects built Stay tuned. The winners will be announced next week! And get ready, because we have some Stranger Builds coming up! 👀 Thanks for everyone that trusted us with this one @nebiusai , @convex , @RevenueCat , @Linkup_platform , @Tenki and @render Special thanks to @frontiertower for having us :)
NERDCONF@nerdconf_ar
Omg robots hiiiiiii
NERDCONF@nerdconf_ar
And the SF Winners are... 3rd AUDORA https://t.co/8ptzLtTn2w 2nd Mention: RAVE SITE https://t.co/GphJaq9YJ8 1st LONGSHORT https://t.co/oRoeIe7EPF Remember that there are 5 prizes remaining! Submit your project before Saturday 12! Congrats to all the builders! Keep building!
NERDCONF@nerdconf_ar
Nerds be creating cool stuff with the best products 😎 With the best partners @convex @nebiusai @RevenueCat @Linkup_platform @tenki @render Join us at @frontiertower
NERDCONF@nerdconf_ar
To make this a real cool hack we need colors. Until 12pm we will have a face painting station 🔥 Become a real burning man!
NERDCONF@nerdconf_ar
How's this going? Let's ask the nerds 🤓 I can feel so many cool projects being created Cc @convex @frontiertower @RevenueCat @Linkup_platform @tenki @render @nebiusai 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
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NERDCONF@nerdconf_ar
Wdym there's a magic show at BURNING TOKEN?!? Backend can feel like magic. That's why we love @convex
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NERDCONF@nerdconf_ar
appreciation post of our aesthethic for this edition. hack if you haven't already https://t.co/fSpsO3u1qz
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NERDCONF@nerdconf_ar
just sent to reveal what this baddies capture at BURNING TOKEN sf 🔥🔥🔥 stay tuned for what's inside of them 👀
NERDCONF@nerdconf_ar
+350 nerds. +80 new apps. Burning Token has its winners 🔥 From our San Francisco kickoff to the online build, thank you to everyone who shipped. Backed by @convex @Linkup_platform @nebiusai @RevenueCat @render. Meet the SIX global winners ↓
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NERDCONF@nerdconf_ar
Our favorite words after a hackathon ends 🥰
1–2 / 11
App ecosystem
We built a web app where builders could form teams, explore the challenges, exchange feedback and submit their projects. Each challenge had its sponsor’s resources in one place.
Builders could also connect their agents through an MCP integration, giving them access to the hackathon briefs, requirements and their team’s project context while they worked.
A judging app for reviewers in SF and online.
21 judges from around the world joined the global track, and four reviewed projects in San Francisco. We built them a judging app with the projects and scoring criteria side by side.
We also sent certificates and recommendation letters to the judges to recognise their contribution.
The website we built
Reach
80
Projects built
388
San Francisco registrations
On Luma. The online event had another 241 registrations.
120+
San Francisco attendees
Our estimate of the people who joined us in person.
357
Users on hackathon app
Joined the event throughout the week.
Visits to the website and event pages
~8,500Page visits
- San Francisco event on Luma~4,600
- burningtoken.dev~2,700
- Online event on Luma~1,200
Repeat visits are included.
What teams built with sponsor tools
80 projects built. Watch two of them below, then browse the winners and the project gallery.
Side Project Graveyard
A playful site for unfinished side projects. Visitors create memorials and leave candles or flowers on other people’s projects.
In the project’s code, Convex stores the memorials and visitor interactions so everyone shares the same graveyard.
Try it hereBurn fAIke
A tool for following a rumor back to its sources. Enter a claim and explore the research behind it.
The winner of the Linkup challenge. This recording shows the app’s research flow and how it presents its findings.
Try it hereExplore the projects.
Browse the winners below, or explore the project gallery. Open any project that catches your eye.
Showing 11 of 11 winning projects
San Francisco · 1st place
LongShort
Research market predictions with sources and supporting evidence.
San Francisco · 2nd place
Rave Site
Turn your browser tabs into a rave.
Contains flashing lights.
Render · 2nd place
n8n-guard
Check n8n workflow health, spot failures, and report what needs attention.
Render · 3rd place
PIVOT!
Research and pressure-test your hackathon idea before you build.
Descriptions and links come from the teams. Some links may have changed since the event.
Thank you for making nerds do hard things.
Stay nerd, stay cool.