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Cronos Launches $42,000 x402 Hackathon for AI-Native Payments

The program leverages recent network upgrades to position Cronos as a testbed for agentic payment apps.

Overview

  • Registration is open now on DoraHacks, with the build phase scheduled from early December through late January.
  • The challenge targets automated settlement flows, intelligent wallet tooling, and real‑world‑asset payment links using Cronos and Crypto.com resources.
  • Cronos says network upgrades cut gas costs by about 90%, reduced block times to under one second, and lifted daily transactions roughly fourfold.
  • Teams gain access to workshops, office hours, and technical documentation, with top projects eligible for grants, incubation, or ecosystem partnerships.
  • The company points to potential reach via Crypto.com’s user base of roughly 150 million and cites more than $6 billion secured and 100+ million transactions on the network.