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Midnight Network "Privacy First" Challenge
Build privacy-enhancing applications using zero-knowledge proofs!
We're excited to announce our newest challenge with Midnight Network!
Running through September 7, the Midnight Network "Privacy First" Challenge invites you to build privacy-enhancing applications and developer tools using zero-knowledge proofs and Midnight's data-protection blockchain. There are two prompts for this challenge and one additional prize category, which means three chances to win!
✨ New to blockchain? Join us today (August 20) at 1pm ET for a livestream right on the DEV homepage with the Midnight Team to learn more about their technology and what you can build for the challenge! Don’t worry, we’ll also share the video down below if you miss the event. ✨
Whether you're a blockchain developer, privacy advocate, or curious about ZK technology, this challenge is the perfect opportunity to explore privacy-first development. As always, all participants with a valid submission will receive a completion badge! And did we mention there's a $5,000 prize pool for our three winners?
We hope you give this challenge a try!
Key Dates
- Contest start: August 20, 2025
- Submissions due: September 07, 2025
- Winners announced: September 18, 2025
Badge Rewards


Find Out More
Ask questions and share your ideas on the Midnight Network "Privacy First" Challenge Launch Post.
View Launch PostSponsored by Midnight Foundation
The Midnight Foundation is an organization dedicated to growing the Midnight network — a fourth-generation blockchain built for secure, compliant, and private decentralised applications — and supporting the global community around it. We help developers, creators, and privacy advocates build tools that protect personal data, support digital freedom, and power the breakthrough generation of blockchain innovation.
Our goal is to make Midnight's technology open and accessible to everyone. By breaking down barriers and encouraging collaboration, we're helping to build a more fair, decentralised internet — one that's trustless and respects individual privacy.
Challenge Prompts
Protect That Data
Build a decentralized application (DApp) that leverages ZK circuits to generate proofs for any entity or virtual transaction. Your DApp must integrate both smart contracts and a user interface, meaningfully incorporating Midnight's privacy capabilities as a core feature.
Requirements:
- Use Midnight's Compact language and MidnightJS for zero-knowledge proofs
- Include a UI that showcases the privacy-preserving mechanism
- Focus on one specific functionality (ZK-powered game mechanics, confidential job boards, identity attestation tools, privacy-preserving chat/voting apps, etc.)
- Use only mocked transactions/tokens (no real-world value)
- Open-source under Apache 2.0 license
How To Participate: Submit your project using the template link below. All submissions must include:
- Public GitHub repository with Apache 2.0 license
- Overview/explainer/tutorial of your project
- Documentation for running and easily testing your project The "Protect That Data" winner will receive $3,500 USD, a DEV++ membership, and an exclusive winner badge!
Judging Criteria:
- Use of underlying technology
- Usability and User Experience
- Accessibility
- Creativity
Prizes:
+ Exclusive winner badge
Enhance the Ecosystem
Develop a project that improves the experience of building on Midnight for other developers. This could include DX libraries, CLI tools, dashboards, block explorers, ZK playgrounds, wallet connectors, or development framework integrations.
Requirements:
- Must improve developer productivity or experience
- Open-source under Apache 2.0 license
- Include comprehensive documentation
How To Participate: Submit your project using the template link below. All submissions must include:
- Public GitHub repository with Apache 2.0 license
- Overview/explainer/tutorial of your project
- Documentation for running and easily testing your project
The "Enhance the Ecosystem" winner will receive $1,000 USD, a DEV++ membership, and an exclusive winner badge!
Judging Criteria:
- Use of underlying technology
- Usability and User Experience
- Accessibility
- Creativity
Prizes:
+ Exclusive winner badge
Prize Categories
Best Tutorial
Awarded to the most effective and engaging tutorial as part of their submission to either prompt
Prizes:
+ Exclusive winner badge
Helpful Links & Resources
Getting Started with Midnight
Midnight Network is currently in Testnet, so no credit card is required to get started. You can access test tokens (tDUST) through their faucet.
Key Resources:
Connect:
Frequently Asked Questions
Participation
Can I submit to multiple prompts?
Yes, you are welcome to submit to multiple prompts.
Can one submission qualify for multiple prompts?
Yes, if your submission offers a solution to multiple prompts, it can qualify for multiple prompts.
Can I submit to a prompt more than once?
Yes, you can submit multiple submissions per prompt but you'll need to publish a separate post for each submission.
- In the event that you may win two or more prompts, and your submission is very close with another participant, we will favor the other participant.
- In the event that you do win two or more prompts, you will only receive one winner badge.
Can I work on a team?
Yes, you can work on teams of up to four people.
- If you collaborate with anyone, you'll need to list their DEV handles in your submission post so we can award a badge to your entire team! Please only publish one submission per team.
- DEV does not handle prize-splitting, so you will need to split all prizes amongst yourselves. Thank you for understanding!
How old do I have to be to participate?
Participants need to be 18+ in order to participate.
If I live in X, am I eligible to participate?
For eligibility rules, see our official challenge rules.
Submission
Can my submission include open source code?
Riffing on open source code and borrowing and improving on previous work/ideas is encouraged but it's important your changes are significant enough to ensure your submission is valid.
When does riffing become plagiarism?
It will depend, but transparency is important, license compatibility is important. You can use someone else's code to give you a jumpstart to demonstrate your ideas on top of someone else's base, but not just re-package the base. It should be clear to the judges what you added to the project in terms of the code and conceptual inspiration. This means, you should clearly state what you were building on and what elements are original to this new submission. When building on existing code, we expect a significant change that adds something tangible to the output. i.e. a new animation, and new sprite, a new function, a new presentation. Not just changes to the source - i.e. changing colours, changing one sprite, changing one function.
What happens if my submission is considered plagiarized or invalid?
Anything deemed to be plagiarism will not be eligible for prizes. Incidental plagiarism may simply result in your disqualification from the challenge (regardless of the number of other valid submissions you have published). Egregious plagiarism will result in your suspension from DEV entirely. Any non-generic, non-trivial usage of prior work, including open source code must be credited in your submission.
Do submissions have to be in English?
Non-english submissions are eligible for a completion badge but not eligible for prizes due to the current limitations of our judges. We will not be judging on mastery of the English language, so please don't let this deter you from submitting if you are not a native English speaker! We hope to evolve this in the future to be more accommodating.
Do I need a license for my code?
Yes, this challenge requires your submission to be open-source under the Apache 2.0 license. This is mandatory for all submissions to either prompt.
Can I use AI?
Use of AI is allowed as long as all other rules are followed. We want to give you a chance to show off your skills in realistic scenarios. If you use AI tools to help you achieve your submission, all the power to you.
How do I embed my project directly into my DEV post?
Our editor supports many types of embeds, including: Stackbliz, Glitch, Github, etc. You can typically use the {% embed https://... %}
syntax directly in the post. Click here for more information on our markdown support.
- For CodePen, you will need to use this syntax:
{% codepen http://... %}
- For CodeSandbox, you will need to use this syntax:
{% codesandbox http://... %}
Judging and Prizing
How does the "Best Tutorial" prize category work?
In addition to the two main prompts, we're awarding a "Best Tutorial" prize ($500 USD) to the most effective and engaging tutorial as part of any submission to either prompt. This means your submission could win both a main prompt prize and the tutorial prize if your submission includes exceptional educational content.
Can there be ties?
In the event of a tie in scoring between judges, the judges will select the entry that received the highest number of positive reactions on their DEV post to determine the winner.
How will I know if I won?
Winners will be announced in a DEV post on the winner announcement date noted in our key dates section.
When will I receive my DEV badge?
Both participation and winner badges will be awarded, in most cases, the same day as the winner announcement.
When will I receive my prizes?
The DEV Team will contact you via the email associated with your DEV profile within, at most, 10 business days of the announcement date to share the details of claiming your prizes.
What steps do I need to take to receive my cash prize?
The winner (including each member of a team) may be required to sign and return an affidavit of eligibility and publicity/liability release, and provide any additional tax filing information (such as a W-9, social security number or Federal tax ID number) within seven (7) business days following the date of your first email notification.
Midnight Network "Privacy First" Challenge Rules
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open only to 18+. Contest entry period ends September 7, 2025 at 11:59 PM PDT. Contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law or regulation. All entries must be submitted during the contest period. For Official Rules, see Midnight Network "Privacy First" Challenge Contest Rules and General Contest Official Rules.