🐻 Build-A-Bear Hackathon | Main Track

Ranger is running a 4-week online hackathon to build and deploy vault strategies on Solana — giving participants a chance to showcase their edge and fast-track their way to running a live product with real AUM behind it.

Who it's for: Traders and developers who have a yield or trading strategy they want to experiment with and scale. Solo or team.

What you can build: Production-ready vault strategies. Basis trades, delta-neutral, RWA, AI-driven, or anything novel.

Why: Winning strategies get seeded with real TVL (up to $1M on this track) and deployed on-chain via Ranger Earn. Vault managers earn ongoing performance fees post-hackathon.

🏆 Main Track Prizes

• 1st Place — Up to $500,000 in vault seeding

• 2nd Place — Up to $300,000 in vault seeding

• 3rd Place — Up to $200,000 in vault seeding

Sponsor Prizes (Main Track Top 3)

• $15,000 in audit credits — Adevar Labs

• 3 months free MPC wallet infrastructure — Cobo

AWS Credits — $10,000 each awarded to:

• 3 Main Track winners

• 3 Honorable Mentions

Benefits for All Participants

• 1 month free Helius Dev Plan — Helius

• Free Cobo Web3 wallet testing accounts — Cobo

✅ Prize Eligibility Requirements

1. Review carefully before building. Strategies that don't meet these requirements will not be eligible for seeding prizes regardless of competition performance.

2. Minimum APY: 10%

3. Vault Base Asset: USDC

4. Tenor: 3-month lock, rolling — reassessed every 3 months

5. Disqualifying yield sources:

• Ponzi-like yield-bearing stables — circular yield dependencies (e.g. Vault A exposes to YBS X, Y, Z where X depends on Y, Y depends on Z, Z depends on X). Can cause death spirals.

• Junior tranche / insurance pool designs — e.g. RLP, jrUSDe. Carry principal loss risk.

• DEX LP vaults — e.g. JLP, HLP, LLP. Carry impermanent loss / principal loss risk.

• High-leverage looping — health rate below 1.05 on assets whose price is not hardcoded in the oracle.

Prize Disclaimer

Vault seeding amounts are indicative and awarded at Presto Labs' discretion based on strategy quality and seeding requirements.

📅 Timeline

Kickoff
Mar 9

Build Window
Mar 9 – Apr 17*

Workshop 1: Launch & Operate Your Ranger Vault
Wed, Mar 11 — 3–4pm UTC
Link: https://us05web.zoom.us/j/81469827696?pwd=IBTKThF1EuYEh1t0Ok6RxJdQjrUN0S.1
Passcode: 566337

Workshop 2: Compose with Ranger Vaults via CPI / Custom Adaptors
Fri, Mar 13 — 3–4pm UTC
Link: https://us05web.zoom.us/j/87277759766?pwd=y7NKAzTcYIdqxa3m5Rrt5WReIdQtCP.1
Passcode: 501493

Workshop 3: Drift Perps and Vaults
Mon, Mar 16 — 3–4pm UTC
Link: https://us05web.zoom.us/j/89451647662?pwd=vV0kC0tDWMcIjbSrNAnRO4UnOSTIJn.1
Passcode: 209390

Workshop 4: Cobo MPC Wallet Infra
Tue, Mar 17 — TBC check TG for more info

Submissions Deadline
Apr 17, 15:59 UTC

Judging
Apr 17–24

Results
Apr 27

Join the Ranger Telegram for updates, workshops, technical help, and questions.

📋 Submission Requirements

Submit all of the following via this bounty page by April 17, all the submissions must be made through Earn to be eligible:

1. 🎥 Demo/Pitch Video (max 3 min)
   Walk us through your strategy, your edge, and how it operates on Ranger Earn.

2. 📄 Strategy Documentation
   Explain your strategy thesis, how it works in practice, and your risk management approach — including drawdown limits, position sizing, and rebalancing logic.

3. 💻 Code Repository
   Open-source repos are encouraged, but you may keep your repo private. If your repo is private, you are required to add @jakeyvee on GitHub so that organizers and judges can review your code. Submissions without verifiable code will not be considered.

4. 🔗 On-chain Verification
   Submit the wallet address or vault address used during the hackathon build window (Mar 9 – Apr 6). We will verify trade activity and performance directly on-chain via Solscan.

5. 📊 CEX Strategy Verification (if applicable)
   If your strategy involves CEX execution, submit:

• Trade history CSV export from your exchange (Binance, OKX, Bybit, etc.)

• A read-only API key for further verification

Why we require this: Seed TVL prizes are awarded based on verified strategy performance. On-chain addresses and CEX trade history allow us to confirm that trades occurred within the hackathon window, that PnL is real, and that your strategy matches your documentation. This protects the integrity of the competition and ensures fair judging for all participants.

Live performance during the hackathon period (Mar 9–Apr 6) is preferred, but backtested results are accepted.

⚖️ Judging Criteria

1. Strategy Quality & Edge – Genuine alpha or defensible thesis. Differentiated approach.

2. Risk Management – Drawdown limits, liquidation protection, position sizing, rebalancing.

3. Technical Implementation – Code quality, adaptor integration, vault architecture, security.

4. Production Viability – Realistic deployment path, scalability, operational complexity.

5. Novelty & Innovation – New primitives, creative protocol combinations, ecosystem contribution.

📚 Resources

• Hackathon Landing Page

• Ranger Earn Docs

• Ranger Hackathon Telegram

• Cobo Docs

*Update: The hackathon has been extended — the submission deadline is now Apr 17, 15:59 UTC.

Judging: Apr 17–24
Results: Apr 27

We’ve also removed the Drift Side Track due to recent security events. To keep the hackathon consistent and production-focused, Drift-based strategies will not be eligible for prizes or TVL seeding.