Hackathons have a special kind of energy. The pressure, the caffeine, the wild ideas that somehow come together at 3 AM. This September, my friend Sulejman Sarajlija and I decided to throw our hats in the ring at ETHGlobal. What came out of it was Notar Exchange — and honestly, it was one of the most fun projects I've ever built.
The Problem We Tackled
If you've ever tried to exchange crypto for fiat in a second or third-world country, you know the pain. Payment providers are either unavailable, unreliable, or charge astronomical fees. We were inspired by zkp2p, but we wanted to adapt the concept to work with Wise — a payment platform that's more accessible globally.
The challenge? Building a trustless peer-to-peer exchange protocol where two strangers can swap crypto for fiat without needing to trust each other or rely on a custodian. No intermediaries. No "please don't scam me" moments.
The Build
Sulejman took on the backend, architecting the smart contracts and integrating with the Scroll blockchain. I handled the frontend, building an interface that made the whole trustless exchange feel... well, trustworthy. It's one thing to have secure contracts running on-chain; it's another to convince users they're safe.
We worked fast. Really fast. But the kind of fast where you're not just hacking things together — you're making real decisions about architecture, security, and user experience on the fly. Every choice mattered. Every bug was a learning opportunity (or a panic moment, depending on the time of day).
Why It Was So Fun
There's something magical about building alongside someone who just gets it. Sulejman and I synced up almost immediately. He'd finish a contract method, I'd wire it up in the UI, and we'd test it together. When something broke (and oh, things broke), we debugged it as a team.
The best part? We weren't just building for the judges. We were solving a real problem that affects real people. Knowing that Notar Exchange could actually help someone in an underserved market exchange assets securely made every late-night coding session worth it.
The Win
We didn't just submit a project — we won. Notar Exchange took home an ETHGlobal award. It validated everything we built, but more than that, it proved that good ideas, solid execution, and great collaboration can happen in a matter of days.
What's Next?
Hackathon projects often live and die in a weekend. But Notar Exchange feels different. We built something that works, something that matters. Whether it evolves into a full product or remains a proof of concept, it's out there — a testament to what's possible when you mix blockchain, creative problem-solving, and a bit of sleep deprivation.
If you want to check it out, the project is live on the ETHGlobal Showcase.
And if you're curious about Sulejman's work, check out his portfolio — the guy's a backend wizard.
Here's to more hackathons, more late nights, and more projects that push the boundaries of what's possible.
Break Zero