2024 Forta x Nethermind Hackathon Recap

Forta is the largest network of security intel in Web3. The decentralized Forta Network leverages machine learning and a community of security researchers to detect exploits, scams and other threats.

The Forta Foundation, in collaboration with the Nethermind team, recently organized an internal hackathon concluding in late April. This event was open to all members of the Nethermind team, including current employees, interns, and alumni. The hackathon aimed to inspire web3 monitoring innovation, offering substantial prizes with a judging panel consisting of key Forta Foundation team members. The evaluated projects showcased remarkable ingenuity and practical applications of Forta’s technology.

The Hackathon Winners

EigenWatcher, the first winner, is a Forta bot designed to monitor EigenLayer’s main activities and detect significant updates that could impact the protocol. Developed by Eman Herawy, EigenWatcher uses ethers.js, TypeScript, EigenLayer, and the Forta SDK to provide a comprehensive monitoring and data management solution. By detecting major activities and updates within EigenLayer, EigenWatcher helps stakeholders stay informed and react promptly to any significant changes. The project faced challenges related to EigenLayer’s complex architecture, such as the lack of direct methods to convert shares to token amounts or vice versa, and certain functionalities like Slashing that were not yet activated, requiring simulated responses for testing purposes. More information and the project’s source code can be found on its GitHub repository and Forta Bot page.

The second winner is Forta Frame, a bot that receives webhook alerts from Forta's scam detector feed and posts them as frames on Warpcast. Developed by Timothy Agevi and Esther Lavender using TypeScript, Webhooks, Farcaster, Node.js, and the Forta SDK, Forta Frame provides timely and user-friendly information about scams occurring in the blockchain space. Prior to this solution, accessing such information was challenging and time-consuming. The team encountered difficulties in obtaining scam alerts, as there were no recent scams detected by the feed, and overcame this by simulating responses using another Forta bot. More details and the project’s source code are available on the GitHub repository and their presentation.

Forta Smart Search, the third and final winner, is an AI-powered tool designed to enhance the discovery and visualization of insights within Forta Alerts. Created by Oleg Iakushkin using Flask, GraphQL, Matplotlib, Threading, Forta SDK, and OpenAI APIs, Forta Smart Search simplifies how users interact with and explore Forta Alerts. It interprets free-form queries, automates tasks, handles real-time data processing, and provides AI-driven summaries and visualizations. This makes it easier for users to gain meaningful insights from complex blockchain data. The project faced several technical challenges, including limited documentation for the Forta Python SDK, slow response times from the OpenAI API, and the complexity of integrating multiple technologies. More information can be found in the project’s Gist.

The hackathon was a resounding success, showcasing the incredible talent and innovation all within the Nethermind team demonstrating technical prowess but also provided practical solutions to real-world problems. The Forta Network looks forward to many more such collaborations and innovations in the future. Congratulations to all the participants and especially to the winners for their outstanding contributions!