On May 16-17, about 25 developers showed up at the newly opened Blox Space in Turin to build smart contracts on Simplicity. Developers competed for over $3,000 in bitcoin as the grand prize, with runner-up teams receiving Jade hardware wallets.Judged by our very own Andrew Poelstra, Mike Berry, and Seth Schoen, they critically analyzed the teams’ work. Two days later, six finished projects had been submitted. Here’s what they created.
SimplySave: Your Portfolio on Autopilot
SimplySave is a hands-off savings tool. The user picks a target split — say 70% in LBTC and 30% in a stablecoin like USDT — and how often it should rebalance. After that, the contract does all of the work.
To pull this off on Liquid, the team built a small custom exchange behind the scenes and wrote a chunk of the browser plumbing from scratch. For a weekend project, that’s a lot of moving parts.
Built by John Galt, Zio Cecio, and Gianluca Acerbis.
LicenseLoop: Royalties That Never Lose the Trail
LicenseLoop turns digital licenses into tokens on Liquid; things like books, software, event tickets, professional certifications, and more.
Here’s the clever bit: every time someone resells the license, the original creator automatically gets a cut. The creator sets the rules once, including the minimum price, the maximum price, and the royalty percentage. The covenant automatically enforces these policies.
Built by the University of Turin team, led by Giacomo Scagliola.
DeadDrop Vault: Inheritance Without the Lawyers
DeadDrop Vault is a Bitcoin-native inheritance tool. The owner sets up a vault with three rules:
- While the owner is active, they keep full control.
- If the owner goes quiet for a set period of time, an heir can claim the funds.
- In an emergency, the owner and a trusted guardian can unlock the vault together right away, with no waiting period.
No lawyer or custodian holds the keys. The rules live on Liquid, and the contract follows them.
Built solo by James Uchechi Okpara.
Mosaik: Trading With Nobody in the Middle
Mosaik is an experimental exchange where every open order is its own little self-contained piece of code on Liquid. A seller posts an order. Anyone in the world can fill it, and the contract guarantees the seller gets paid the exact amount agreed. If nobody fills the order before the deadline, the funds simply return to the seller on their own.
There’s no need for an exchange account or centralized servers. Orders are posted and found over Nostr, the open messaging protocol, so there is no company that can take the order book down.
Built by mo_ Harchegani, Arshia Ramezan Mahmoudi, and Walter M.
PQ Liquid Wallet: Future-Proofing, Early
The most technically adventurous entry: PQ Liquid Wallet is the first wallet to test Blockstream's research on protecting Bitcoin from future quantum computers. Built on top of Blockstream's own SHRINCS verifier, the team created a wallet that signs transactions using a form of cryptography that does not rely on the math quantum computers are good at breaking.
They got a real test transaction locked into a quantum-resistant address on the Liquid Testnet. Spending back out of that address still bumps into some of Liquid's current technical limits, and the team documented exactly where and why.
Built by Silvio Meneguzzo and Nicola Sorbetto.
DuoPay: The Trustless Group Chip-In
DuoPay lets two people jointly fund a purchase without either one going first and without a middleman holding the money. Both buyers put their share into the contract. If the seller delivers, both buyers sign to release the funds. If something goes wrong, the money returns to each buyer after a set timeout.
Think of it as a “digital handshake” for shared purchases: a couple buying a car together, two friends splitting a big group gift, or a freelancer and a client agreeing on terms before any money changes hands.
Built by Kennyk1 Favour.
Simplicity Is Catching Eyes
A computer science professor from the University of Turin came to the event in person. He’s working on a blockchain program at the university and expressed interest in academic research on Simplicity. It’s a small thing, but it points to something interesting: Simplicity’s organic ecosystem interest is growing around the world.
Simplicity Builders Are Here
It’s one thing for the team that designed a programming language to use it. It’s another for developers who have never seen it before to build something real.
Turin highlighted that Simplicity is not just an idea. One weekend was all it took to witness impressive work emerge:
- A hands-off savings tool that rebalances itself
- A license marketplace that pays creators royalties on every resale
- An inheritance vault with a deadman's switch
- A peer-to-peer exchange with no central operator
- The first quantum-resistant wallet on Liquid
- A two-party escrow contract for shared purchases
Andrew, Mike, and Seth reviewed every submission. Now, drum roll please!
drdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdr…
First place: PQ Liquid Wallet
Second place: Mosaik
Third place: LicenseLoop and SimplySave (tie)
Congratulations to the winning teams!
Want to Build the Next One?
The Simplicity toolbox is open to anyone who wants to pick it up.
- Browse the full project gallery on Devpost and see the code.
- Read the Simplicity docs and start writing your own contracts.
- Follow @Blockstream and @Liquid_BTC to keep up with upcoming developer event.
A big thank you to Blox Space Turin and the Liquid community for making the weekend happen. We cannot wait to see what gets built next.