UNIC-led Team Wins First Place at Bank of Cyprus Hackathon

Innovative Breakthrough in Digital Currency and Real Estate Tokenisation

The University of Nicosia is proud to announce that a team led by one of its own students won first place at the fifth annual Bank of Cyprus Hackathon. Held from 18-20 October 2024, at the IDEA Centre in Nicosia, the event saw participation from over 28 teams across Cyprus, all vying to present the most innovative solutions in tech and finance.

Victorious in this fierce competition, the team, “Moctezuma,” delivered a groundbreaking project that seamlessly integrates digital currency with real estate tokenisation. Their innovative platform tackles the intricacies of the real estate market by incorporating financial institutions into a tokenised management solution, significantly reducing transaction times from months to just one day. This approach leverages the anticipated Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation set to sweep Cyprus from 2024 to 2026, underpinned by the digital euro, thus streamlining the process within an evolving regulatory framework.

Francisco Cordoba Otalora, who spearheaded the team, is a PhD student and Marie Curie Fellow in Asset Tokenisation at the University of Nicosia’s Institute for the Future. His work, supported by the AGORA programme – a European Union-funded initiative with UNIC as a leading member – emphasises the institution’s leading role in pioneering studies on asset tokenisation and the metaverse.

The Bank of Cyprus Hackathon annually gathers Cyprus’s brightest minds in tech and finance, nurturing innovation and collaboration. This year’s event marked a milestone in participant engagement and demonstrated the growing focus on digital finance and blockchain technologies. Participants were tasked with addressing tangible challenges and harnessing the transformative potential of decentralised finance.

The University of Nicosia congratulates the team on their outstanding achievement and contribution to the field.