Celo, one of crypto’s most widely used stablecoin networks, recently announced its Onchain Agents Hackathon, with a total prize pool of $5,000 in $CELO. Carbon DeFi gives builders a practical edge: create agents that backtest, optimize, and launch active trading strategies on Celo while competing across Tracks 1–3 for up to $3,500 in prizes.
TL;DR
Celo’s Onchain Agents Hackathon runs through June 15, 2026, with a $5K prize pool distributed in $CELO. Submissions open today, June 8, and builders have until June 15 to register.Participants have the potential to win up to $3,500 in $CELO with Carbon DeFi providing a competitive edge for those focused on Track 2: Most Activity / Onchain Transactions.Earn rewards in $CELO from the $USDGLO / $USDm campaign while competing for up to $3,500 in the hackathon.Carbon DeFi offers strategies that are designed to actively trade, and it’s built-in solver system helps maintain that activity using liquidity from all major DEXs on Celo.The Carbon DeFi simulator helps builders optimize before deploying, using real historical data up to 365 days.The Carbon DeFi MCP is live on Celo with 25 tools available for MCP-compatible agents to create trading strategies and liquidity positions.https://medium.com/media/7b227628ffb17bf886290346540ea264/href
A Match Made in Heaven: Track 2 and Carbon DeFi
Carbon DeFi was purpose-built for user-defined trading activity, introducing capabilities not available on any other decentralized or centralized exchange.
Users do not simply deposit liquidity into an existing shared pool and wait for someone to trade against it. On Carbon DeFi, users can create a trading pair between any two standard ERC-20 tokens, with each position functioning as its own independent trading strategy.
The built-in solver system helps keep those strategies actively trading. Strategies are broadcast across the chain, and the solver system searches major DEXs chainwide for execution opportunities that can help fill orders efficiently.
For a competition based on transaction activity, this creates a powerful combination:
concentrated liquidity strategies that buy and sell inside a custom rangerecurring strategies that rotate liquidity through a repeated buy low, sell high cyclesimulation tools to compare ranges, fills, returns, ROI, and cycle count before deploymenttools to adjust strategies as market conditions change
Beyond The Typical Concentrated Liquidity
Concentrated liquidity on Carbon DeFi lets users place liquidity inside a custom price range to buy and sell within.
Unlike traditional concentrated liquidity positions, Carbon DeFi users define:
Any token combination, without the limitations of choosing from pre-existing trading pairs.Price ranges, free of tick constraints.A custom spread / fee tier / profit margin, giving users control over what they earn from each trade.Strategy adjustments, allowing users to update prices, ranges, budgets, and strategy structure as market conditions change — without the need to first withdraw funds.
For Track 2, this gives builders a way to create agents that help users design concentrated liquidity positions around trading activity, not just passive liquidity placement.
The agent can help users inspect an active stablecoin pair, define a trading range, set the spread, prepare the position for review and signing, and manage the strategy after it goes live.
Example prompt
Find an active stablecoin pair on Carbon DeFi on Celo, create a concentrated liquidity position inside a tight trading range, and prepare it for review and signing.
Recurring Strategies: Automated Buy Low, Sell High
Recurring strategies are exclusive to Carbon DeFi and built for capturing volatility through an automated buy low, sell high trading cycle.
Users define two independent orders, limit or range, that are linked together:
One side buys.One side sells.
When one order fills, the acquired tokens automatically rotate to fund the opposite order. The strategy continues cycling as market conditions move between the two orders.
For stablecoin pairs, the orders can be placed close together around a specific target price:
buy slightly below the target pricesell slightly above itcapture the spread between the two ordersrepeats automatically, without manual intervention
Example prompt
Create a recurring $USDGLO / $USDm strategy that buys slightly below $1 and sells slightly above it. Prepare the strategy for review and signing.
Use the Simulator Before Deploying
The Carbon DeFi simulator lets users backtest hypothetical concentrated liquidity and recurring strategies against up to 365 days of real historical price data, gaining valuable insights for a better chance at generating meaningful trading activity.
The simulator can help compare:
buy and sell pricesprice rangesbudgetsspreadsestimated returnstrading activity
Where the Carbon DeFi MCP Fits
While all of the above is achievable with an agent, there is a more straightforward, agent-ready pathway — the Carbon DeFi MCP — live on Celo, giving compatible agents access to 25 tools across six strategy types.
For Track 2 builders, that means an agent can help users move through the full trading workflow without having to access APIs or create custom tooling:
market data → simulation → strategy creation → review and signing → position management
For the full Carbon DeFi MCP setup, see ‘AI Agents Take On Stablecoin Trading and Custom Market Creation: Carbon DeFi MCP Is Live on Celo’.
Double Dip: Hackathon + $USDGLO / $USDm Rewards
The active $USDGLO / $USDm campaign on Carbon DeFi gives builders a live stablecoin market to build around.
https://medium.com/media/dd45b850a171e7785af191e356b6d33f/href
A hackathon participant can create an agent that helps users inspect the pair, simulate concentrated liquidity or recurring strategies, prepare a qualifying Carbon DeFi position, and manage that position over time.
That creates double the earnings potential:
Win up to $3,500 in $CELO for the Onchain Agents HackathonEarn $CELO rewards from the active $USDGLO / $USDm campaign
The campaign rewards qualifying $USDGLO / $USDm strategies on Carbon DeFi that are:
±2% of the market price50% $USDm50% $USDGLO
The current campaign on Carbon DeFi on Celo gives builders a clear starting point:
• Use the $USDGLO / $USDm trading pair• Simulate the strategy• Optimize for trading activity• Create a qualifying position• Compete for Tracks 1–3 while earning campaign rewards
Get Started
For Celo’s Onchain Agent Hackathon, Carbon DeFi offers a practical route: strategies that can be simulated before launch, adjusted after deployment, and designed to keep trading as market conditions move.
Celo
Celo Onchain Agents Hackathon Details
Celopedia — An all-in-one library for building on Celo
Carbon DeFi
Trade | MCP | MCP on Celo guide | Simulator | Rewards on Celo$USDGLO / $USDm campaign details
Bancor
Bancor is a pioneer in decentralized finance (DeFi), established in 2016. It invented the core technologies underpinning the majority of today’s automated market makers (AMMs) and continues to develop the foundational infrastructure critical to DeFi’s success — focusing on enhanced liquidity mechanics and robust onchain market operation. All products of Bancor, including Carbon DeFi and the Arb Fast Lane, are governed by the Bancor DAO.
Carbon DeFi — Bancor’s flagship DEX, is powered by Bancor’s latest patented technologies: Asymmetric Liquidity and Adjustable Bonding Curves.
The Arb Fast Lane — DeFi’s most advanced arbitrage infrastructure powered by Marginal Price Optimization, a new method of optimal routing.
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Win up to $3500 in Celo’s Onchain Agents Hackathon — Optimize Trading Activity With Carbon DeFi was originally published in Bancor on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
