Lepton Agents Hackathon
> > See all details here! https://lepton.thecanteenapp.com/
>> Discord link here: https://discord.gg/rsVfYutFZg
>> Kickoff meeting (8 AM ET on June 15): https://www.twitch.tv/thecanteenapp
The Lepton Agents Hackathon is Canteen's two-week builder series in partnership with Circle on Arc!
For hackers that want to create AI agents that pay, receive, and orchestrate nanopayments — settled on Arc, Circle's stablecoin-native L1.
What does this mean for me?
A $50K prize pool (in cash or equivalents) across grand prizes, standout teams, and easter eggs
Direct access to Canteen's research, founders, and network
Real settlement on Arc — sub-second finality, ~$0.01 USDC fees
Six published Requests for Builders (RFBs) with concrete, buildable angles
Mentorship and programming throughout the two weeks
Why Lepton?
AI agents are becoming economic actors. They discover each other, pay for services, and build a record of who delivered, a market run by software. But the work they trade in is small and constant, and most chains can't price it: a sub-cent payment is eaten by gas, and a volatile fee token makes a budget impossible to hold.
The lepton was the coin that solved this the first time. The name endured for two and a half millennia: a lepton was 1/100 of the drachma, the smallest money in Greek pockets until the euro arrived in 2002. Nanopayments put that unit back in circulation for machines, and Arc is where they clear: predictable USDC fees instead of volatile gas, sub-second deterministic finality, and stablecoin-native settlement at the protocol layer. That's what we're here to build on, paired with Circle's full-stack platform: USDC, CCTP, Gateway, and App Kit.
Who this is for?
You should be comfortable shipping fast and talking to users! We love researchers, students, and engineers — even those new to crypto.
Dates: June 15 – June 29, 2026
Format: Online, 2 weeks
Access: Apply to join
More details coming soon!
About Canteen: A research and technology firm at the intersection of AI, crypto, and payments. Based in New York City. More at thecanteenapp.com
About Circle: The issuer of USDC and creator of Arc — an EVM L1 designed from the ground up to be stablecoin-native, with predictable USDC fees and sub-second deterministic finality. Testnet at arc.network