Decode & Detect: The XRPL AI Hack
Inviting all students!
Your AI skills can make finance safer. Can you build an AI/ML algorithm that detects non-compliant activity on the XRP Ledger? Then join our hackathon and compete for a £10,000 prize pool
The UK Centre for Blockchain Technologies, in partnership with Ripple, UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies, the Imperial College London Data Science Society, King's College London Blockchain Society, and GirlsWhoML, invites all students to a hackathon: build an AI/ML model to detect money-laundering-style activity on the XRP Ledger, using real, publicly available on-chain data.
You'll pull the data yourself, choose your own tech stack, and design a detection approach from scratch.
Key details:
A mandatory online training session covering XRP Ledger fundamentals and fraud detection principles - no prior blockchain experience required.
Full freedom: source your own data, pick your own tools, build your own approach
Bring your own laptop.
Teams of up to 5, or fly solo.
Prize pool: £10,000
1st place: £5,000
2nd place: £3,500
3rd place: £1,500
Plus: goody bags, free food and drinks
Whether you're studying computer science, data science, finance, or just curious about blockchain and fraud detection, this is your chance to build something real for your portfolio and tackle a high-impact problem, no prior industry experience required.
HACKATHON AGENDA (24 OCTOBER):
9:30-10:00 - Coffee & networking - arrival, team formation for solo participants
10:00-10:20 - Opening remarks - welcome, format explanation, rules, prize overview
10:20-10:30 - Team check-in, data access setup
10:30-16:30 - Hacking time (working lunch served around 1:00 PM)
16:30-16:50 - Submission deadline - code and slides locked in
16:50-17:10 - Judges circulate for quick demos
17:10-18:10 - Pitches - finalists present (5 min each + Q&A)
18:10-18:30 - Judges deliberate
18:30-19:00 - Announcing winners & Awards ceremony
19:00-20:00 - Networking, drinks
Spots are limited. Register now and secure your place.
Date: 24 October 2026
Time: 09:30
Location: London (location to be shared with the hackathon participants)
Registration deadline: 20 October