Kraken Forge - Build the tools beneath the surface

🐙 Kraken Forge - Build the tools beneath the surface

Welcome to Kraken Forge.

This isn’t just a hackathon. It’s a live-fire test for builders who want to shape the future of open finance.

Participants can take on one or more of three challenges, each inspired by real engineering work at Kraken.

Think high-performance SDKs, optimized APIs, orderbook intelligence, and low-code strategy tools built for real traders at scale.

This is the same ground our engineers cover daily. Scaling systems. Sharpening visibility. Pushing execution to the edge.

Build something fast. Build something that works. Show what thoughtful engineering can do when performance actually matters.

🎯 Goals

We’re looking to empower builders to create practical, high-performance tools that expand the Kraken ecosystem and showcase creative technical excellence. Main goals:

• Develop open, reusable, and production-quality components powered by Kraken’s API.

• Inspire the community to contribute to real-world infrastructure that supports crypto adoption.

• Identify and connect with top engineering talent excited about the crypto industry.

  
  

  Who should join? 

This hackathon is open to everyone who wants to register, but it's especially built for engineers, developers, and system designers passionate about crypto markets, low-latency systems, and data visualization.

If you love building things that work fast, look clean, and scale well, this is your playground.

  Important Dates

• Registration:  Nov 21 - Dec 4

• Invitation of participants: Dec 5

• Hackathon: Dec 8 - 24

• Submission Deadline: Dec 24

• Winners Announcement: Jan 2026

⚙️ Categories

Dive into one of three challenges drawn from the depths of Kraken’s engineering stack.

Each track invites you to explore a different layer of our trading system,  from SDKs and data streams to visual interfaces and strategy design.

Track #1 - SDK Client

Overview: Build a lightweight SDK that connects to Kraken’s exchange WS API, processes updates efficiently, and exposes a clean API for downstream consumers. 

Expected Outcome: A reusable SDK for streaming market data with clear documentation and examples.

Suggested Tech: C++ or Rust

Track #2 - Orderbook Visualizer

Overview: Build a web orderbook visualizer that connects to Kraken’s exchange WS API and allows time travel.

Expected Outcome: Reusable component with documentation and examples.

Suggested Tech: React or Rust/C++ GUI

Track #3 - Strategy Builder

Overview: Build a low-code solution that allows you to drag and drop blocks of actions (add order/cancel, etc.)

Expected Outcome: Reusable component with documentation and examples.

Suggested Tech: React

  Deliverables

We expect participants to deliver:

• Github repo
• A fully working prototype
• A short video demonstration walking through the solution

⚖️ Judging Criteria

• Innovation - Creativity and originality of approach.

• Technical Execution - Code quality, performance, and reliability.

• Reusability - Potential for broader use within or beyond Kraken.

• UX & Accessibility - Simplicity, clarity, and usability.

• Documentation - Completeness and readability.

• Presentation - Clarity and impact of the demo

Prizes

A total prize pool of $15,000 USDG will be awarded across all tracks

• 🥇 1st Place of each track: $4,000 USDG

1. 🏆 Honorable Mention: $3,000 USDG - awarded to a standout project selected from all tracks.

Prizes will be awarded in USDG stablecoin and credited directly to a verified Kraken account.

Career Opportunity

Top participants will also receive an invitation for a  fast-tracked interview process for engineering roles at Kraken to  join one of the most advanced teams in the fintech industry! 

Hackathon Rules

• Participants must be 18 years or older. 
• Submissions must include a video with a demo, a proper README file and applicable documentation.
• Each participant may submit only one Project for each Track. 
• All winners must complete ID verification to receive prizes.
• Submissions must be completed individually. Team submissions will not be accepted.
• All code submitted by the participants must be open source. 
• All project submissions must have a MIT License
• Employees and contractors of Kraken may participate but are not eligible to receive prizes