Ever wonder why blockchain apps still feel like they're stuck in 1995? 

It’s because the industry is still new – patience is key! 

But don’t worry, the patience is paying off, as two major players just decided to give Web3 an overhaul.

EigenLayer, the famed staking protocol, and Cartesi are throwing an exclusive hackathon that might actually make crypto apps worth using. 

And for the record, we’re staunchly opposed to the tired "blockchain will change everything" line – but this time… it’s sort of apt. 

The Secret Sauce of Adoption

By mixing EigenLayer's restaking magic with Cartesi's Linux-powered tech, the duo wants to generate the spark that catches the fire of mass adoption. 

In practical terms, that means letting Web2 devs finally build stuff on Web3 without learning an entirely new language. 

So barriers to entry were the problem this entire time – who knew? 

They're calling the initiative “Experiment Week #3” (very creative, we know). 

It's running from February 10th to February 17th, and it's invite-only – because apparently, that's still a thing and they want the best of the best.

But here's why it matters (even if you’re not invited) – they're not just throwing money at random projects.

Their focus is firmly on building DeFi that doesn't need a PhD to understand, AI that actually works on-chain, and games that are fun instead of just being farming simulators (no disrespect to our farmers, by the way.) 

They're even taking a crack at social networks that won't sell your data and IoT stuff that connects to more than just your crypto wallet.

Money, Meet Mouth

They're also making it worth the builders’ while, putting up $12,000 in CTSI and EIGEN tokens. 

While that’s not exactly life-changing money, it’s enough to make things interesting and motivate folks to build the best applications they possibly can.

Felipe Argento from Cartesi is pretty stoked about it: "We saw some mind-blowing projects in the first two editions, and now we've got EigenLayer in the mix? This is gonna be wild."

Nader Dabit from EigenLayer jumped in too, basically saying "Yeah, we're tired of everything being so hard to use in Web3. Time to fix it."

Adoption Eminent? 

We've seen a million hackathons promise to "revolutionize" blockchain. 

But this one might actually be the start of something meaningful, as they're actually focusing on making stuff that normal, non-Web3 people might want to use.

EigenLayer brings the security muscle with their restaking setup, while Cartesi makes sure developers can actually build without wanting to tear their hair out.

Sure, this might finally be the moment Web3 stops being just for crypto nerds.

But even if it’s not, at least they're trying to build stuff that your non-crypto friends might actually want to use. 

And in this space, that's surprisingly rare, and pleasantly refreshing.