Blockchain Chicago

👋 Hello User Blockchain Chicago is a @UChicago RSO focused on Blockchain technologies and the emerging DeFi ecosystem. Follow us for updates as the RSO matures, as well as for information about events, membership, etc.

We're excited to share that @Woah_Vickyy and cofounder Tharun Ekambaram have been accepted into @colosseum Accelerator Cohort 5 and named winners of the Solana Frontier Hackathon with @Senthosxyz. Blockchain Chicago has been busy, and this is only the beginning!🔥

1/ Announcing Colosseum's 5th accelerator cohort, sourced from our Frontier Hackathon and rolling Eternal sprint! 🚀 @crowdbrainai @cesto_co @Peakstrade @my_mana_ (Formerly KinnectFi) @traded_gg @flovia402 @Senthosxyz @__Dropset__ @PlayWLS @rwaodl @housddotfinance @JKIndex_ @fraudsworth @clawpumptech @Rosentica (One Arena) @myStableCorp @SyndicateGameHQ @DashXHQ @NomuStores @LasoFinance @zonelessdev

3/ The following startups submitted the next 25 best products (in no particular order): @Peak3trades @MentionedMarket @traded_gg @craftsdev @memeticmachines @sudont_xyz @getmurmo (Alpha Group Trading) @flovia402 @Senthosxyz @__Dropset__ @PlayWLS @cesto_co @my_mana_ (KinnectFi) @rwaodl @housddotfinance @JKIndex_ @fraudsworth @YieldCompass @clawpumptech @Rosentica (One Arena) @myStableCorp @SyndicateGameHQ @DashXHQ @NomuStores @benchdotmarkets

🏆 ETHGlobal New York 2026 Finalist | 🔝 Cumulant 🛠️ @tharunekambaram & @Woah_Vickyy Structured products on prediction markets - baskets, tranches, PPNs, & continuous markets. ethglobal.com/showcase/cumul…

Had a great panel tonight in NYC. Thank you to the student leaders who joined the discussion and shared their perspectives on the future of Web3.

The future of the industry is being shaped by conversations like these. Looking forward to seeing what this next generation of builders creates. Thanks to the students: • Hannah (@PennBlockchain) • Max (@ucblockchain) • Marko (@Dimefps | @bnf_fordham) • Yuyao (YY) Wang (@YuyaoWang | @BlockchainNYU)

TRON is headed to NYC next week. 🗽 Join #TRON Academy as we kick off @ETHGlobal New York with a Happy Hour featuring pool, darts, drinks, and conversations with the next generation of builders.

We just won the @solanamobile track at Consensus Miami with Parabola! Prediction markets today are stuck on yes/no. Parabola lets you bet the entire distribution: where you think an outcome lands, how confident you are, and how wide the range could be. Trade a distribution on Brent crude. Instead of an NBA over/under, set your own curve around the final score. Same idea, infinitely more expressive. Parabola presents a brand new derivative built around distributions, real leverage, better odds, and a fix for the fragmented liquidity that’s held prediction markets back, all on-chain with Solana architecture. We’re excited to soon launch a web app in addition to a dApp for Solana Mobile in our efforts to build out Parabola for the broader Solana ecosystem. Huge thanks to Solana Mobile, @easya_app , @dom_kwok , and @kwok_phil for the support. @a_jerfy @0xKnxwledge @shikharhndrxx @nishprash

Kick off ETHGlobal New York with TRON Academy 🔻 Join builders, creators, and student blockchain communities from across the Northeast for a night of conversations, connections, billiards, darts, drinks, and refreshments. Whether you're new to Web3 or already building, come hang out with us. 🕗 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM ET 🪩 Free entry 📍 Register for location Co-hosted with @pton_blockchain and supported by blockchain communities from Columbia, NYU, Penn, Fordham, and UChi. First come, first served 👇 luma.com/yghkudgt

Last friday, we ended a successful Winter Quarter with a social, project presentations, and an introduction to @standwithcrypto! Blockchain Chicago’s been busy this quarter - and Spring's only going to be bigger!

I pitched a short thesis on $ENA at the @FTI_US & @artemis research competition at @MBC_Conference on Dec. 6, 2025. We’re now at the tail-end of our trade window, so here's a quick revisit on: 1. How did it turn out? 2. What actually drove the move? 3. Reflections & Lessons

This past week, members of @ucblockchain started with $1,000 to paper trade on @HypeHQ and the results were 🔥 Shoutout to everyone who competed + a huge thanks to @ravibakhai for kicking it off with an awesome speaker event. Make sure to try out Hype if you haven't already!

Best Use of @artemis Data: U Chicago @ucblockchain - Short $ENA Presented By: John Beecher, Prashanth Bhaskara, Franklin Liu, @Woah_Vickyy Prize: $2.5K USD

Had the chance to pitch in the finals of the @FTI_US Research Competition at @MBC_Conference with 3 of my bros + took home $2,500. We presented a short on $ENA, treating it like a real asset with fundamentals + regime analysis (1/14) A quick thread on our $ENA short thesis⬇️

Two UChicago teams made the finals of the @FTI_US Research Competition at @MBC_Conference: Team 1: Takeshi Misaki, Ethan Douglass, Priyanshu Arora Team 2: Victor Song, John Beecher, Prashanth Bhaskara, Franklin Liu + Team 2 won the @artemis bounty and took home $2500!

This past weekend was a big one for Blockchain Chicago at MBC: Brought 13 UChicago students, met amazing builders, & learned from the brightest in the industry🙌 Thank you to @college_xyz & @MBC_Conference for hosting such a wonderful event!

First, in the Long UNDER $250M MC the finalists are: $METADAO from the University of Texas at Austin @txblockchain Submitted by: Arjun Yenamandra, Braeden Gradwell, Sulayman Bowles, Vikrant Jeeva $DYDX from University of Chicago @ucblockchain Submitted by: Priyanshu Arora, Ethan Douglass, Takeshi Misaki $GRASS from Columbia University @BlockchainatCU Submitted by: Soomin Kim

Finally, in the Short OVER $1B MC, the finalists are: $PI from University of Indiana Submitted by: Tharun Ekambaram, Viraj Lakhotia, Jack Buchenberger $ENA from University of Chicago @ucblockchain Submitted by: Franklin Liu, Victor Song, John Beecher, Prashanth Bhaskara $M from University of Waterloo @wlooblockchain Submitted by: Konrad Weber