Inspiration

For three out of four of us, cryptocurrency, Web3, and NFTs were uncharted territory. With the continuous growth within the space, our team decided we wanted to learn more about the field this weekend.

An ongoing trend we noticed when talking to others at Hack the North was that many others lacked knowledge on the subject, or felt intimidated.

Inspired by the randomly generated words and QR codes on our hacker badges, we decided to create a tool around these that would provide an engaging soft introduction to NFTs for those attending Hack the North. Through bringing accessible knowledge and practice directly to hackers, Mint the North includes those who may be on the fence, uncomfortable with approaching subject experts, and existing enthusiasts alike.

What It Does

Mint the North creates AI-generated NFTs based on the words associated with each hacker's QR code. When going through the process, the web app provides participants with the opportunity to learn the basics of NFTs in a non-intimidating way. By the end of the process, hackers will sign off with a solid understanding of the basics of NFTs and their own personalized NFTs. Along with the tumblers, shirts, and stickers hackers get as swag throughout the event, participants can leave Hack the North with personalized NFTs and potentially a newly sparked interest and motivation to learn more.

How We Built It

Smart Contract Written in Solidity and deployed on Ethereum (testnet).

Backend Written in node.js and express.js. Deployed on Google Firebase and assets are stored on Google Cloud Services.

Frontend Designed in Figma and built using React.

Challenges We Ran Into

The primary challenge was finding an API for the AI-generated images. While many exist, there were different barriers restricting our use. After digging through several sources, we were able to find a solution. The solution also had issues at the start, so we had to make adjustments to the code and eventually ensured it worked well.

Hosting has been a consistent challenge throughout the process as well due to a lack of free hub platforms to use for hosting our backend services. We use Google firebase as they have a built-in emulator that allows us to make use of advanced functionality while running locally.

Accomplishments that We're Proud Of

Those of us in the group that were new to the topic are proud of the amount we were able to learn and adapt in a short time.

As we continued to build and adjust our project, new challenges occurred. Challenges like finding a functional API or hosting pushed our team to communicate, reorganize, and ultimately consider various solutions with limited resources.

What We Learned

Aside from learning a lot about Web3, blockchain, crypto, and NFTs, the challenges that occurred throughout the process taught us a lot about problem-solving with limited resources and time.

What's Next for Mint the North

While Mint the North utilized resources specific to Hack the North 2022, we envision the tool expanding to other hackathons and tech education settings. For Web3 company sponsors or supporters, the tool provides a direct connection and offering to communities that may be difficult to reach, or are interested but unsure how to proceed.

Built With

• ethereum
• express.js
• figma
• googlecloudstorage
• googlefirebase
• javascript
• node.js
• react
• solidity
• wombo