Coinbase recently announced the start of its bitcoin competition, geared towards finding applications that could make the cryptocurrency more approachable. The company is offering up to $70,000 in prizes, with the first place garnering $10,000 until the fifth place with $500, which can be converted to their bitcoin equivalent.

Submissions must be made before May 19 and these will be judged by bitcoin company investors Adam Draper, Chris Dixon, and Fred Wilson. In addition, chief scientist at Bitcoin Foundation Gavin Andresen will also be part of the panel of judges.

Bitcoin Competition and Hackathon

Aside from that, the developers that make it to the top five will also be given the opportunity to compete for a place in the Silicon Valley bitcoin accelerator Boost VC, under CEO Adam Draper. This would include around $50,000 in support, mentoring, and accommodation.

“Bitcoin is the world’s most used alternative currency, and we want to inspire developers to build exciting solutions around it,” explained Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam.

“Since our app competition is run online, developers from around the world can participate and use our API for new, innovative solutions,” added Ehrsam. Coinbase, which offers a variety of developer tools, previously stipulated that participants in their bitcoin competition hackathon should use their API. However, the company revised its rules to include other APIs such as VC-backed Chain, Gem and Boost VC alumni BlockCypher.

Last year, Coinbase was able to accept 112 submissions for the bitcoin competition, with geotagging app named CoinPlanter that allows users to ‘dig’ or ‘plant’ bitcoin bagging the grand prize of $10,000. The company is looking for apps that are out of the box, useful, and easy to use.

In addition, the app must excel in creativity, usability, and execution. The bitcoin competition is open to all developers anywhere, as Coinbase is eager to spur innovation in the industry.