Korea Digital Authentication Association Recruiting Participants for '2026 Blockchain AI Hackathon'...Up to 1 Billion Won Startup Support

The Korea Digital Authentication Association (Chairman Lee Kihyuk) is hosting the "2026 Blockchain AI Hackathon" to discover new technology ideas that combine blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI). Applications for participation are being accepted until May 30. Notably, participants who propose creative services utilizing mobile identification cards will have the opportunity to receive startup support of up to 1 billion won.

This event is being held for the second time, following last year’s competition, and is co-organized by RaonSecure (Co-CEOs Lee Soonhyung and Lee Jeonga) and the Global Digital Innovation Network (GDIN, CEO Kim Joungkak), with support from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The hackathon is open to anyone interested in blockchain and AI-based services. Participants can apply individually or as a team of up to five members, and startups established within the past five years are also eligible.

The main theme of the competition is developing services that utilize mobile identification technology. Participants are required to propose practical ideas linked to mobile resident registration cards, mobile driver’s licenses, and mobile national veterans’ registration cards. In particular, those who utilize RaonSecure’s blockchain digital ID platforms, "OmniOne Open DID" or "OmniOne Chain," which are released through GitHub, will receive additional points.

A total of five teams will be selected as winners. The grand prize team will receive an award from the Minister of the Interior and Safety, while the top excellence award will be presented by the CEO of Korea Minting, Security Printing & ID Card Operating Corp. (KOMSCO). Three teams will receive excellence awards, with each award presented by the heads of the National Information Society Agency, the National IT Industry Promotion Agency, and the Korea Internet & Security Agency, respectively. The total prize pool is 30 million won.

Winning teams will also be given additional opportunities for commercialization. RaonSecure, together with Axis Investment and UK-based venture capital firm simsan Ventures, will conduct a separate evaluation and plans to provide up to 1 billion won in startup support. The Global Digital Innovation Network will offer support for overseas expansion, investment attraction, and management consulting.

The association and the organizers plan to expand the discovery of ideas utilizing mobile ID-based services and open-source DID technology through this hackathon. Their goal is to connect participants’ proposals to real-world services and businesses, thereby broadening the scope of digital identity technology utilization in the age of agentic AI.

Currently, mobile identification cards have reached about 45 million people and have become a core part of the national digital identity infrastructure. As their scope continues to expand beyond the public sector into industries such as finance, demand for new services based on this technology is also growing rapidly.

Lim Dohyun, Vice President of the Korea Digital Authentication Association, stated, "Demand for services that combine mobile identification cards with AI is increasing," and added, "We hope this hackathon will contribute to the practical discovery of ideas and to the expansion of the domestic digital identity ecosystem." He further encouraged the active participation of creative and talented applicants.

This competition will proceed through preliminary and final rounds starting in June, with the final winners announced on September 30. In addition, a technical briefing session to explain the purpose and evaluation criteria of the competition will be held at RaonSecure’s headquarters in Seoul on May 7. For more details, please contact the Korea Digital Authentication Association’s secretariat.

The core of this hackathon is to discover ideas that combine mobile identification cards with AI and blockchain technology, and to provide up to 1 billion won in startup support for the best proposals.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.