Institutions Now Absorb More Bitcoin Than the Network Can Produce

WEEX Labs, the innovation arm of WEEX, a leading global crypto exchange serving over 6.2 million users across 150+ countries, is set to kick off the preliminary round of its flagship global AI trading hackathon, AI Wars: WEEX Alpha Awakens, on January 12, 2026.

Backed by the strong support of world-class sponsors including Amazon Web Services (AWS), the total prize pool has surged from $880,000 to an unprecedented $1,880,000, positioning AI Wars among the largest AI trading hackathons in the crypto industry. At the top of the leaderboard awaits an extraordinary champion prize — a Bentley Bentayga S, already on standby in Dubai, ready to be claimed by the ultimate AI trading victor.

This is more than a hackathon — it is a global stress test for the future of AI-powered finance, where algorithms compete, capital learns, and the next generation of trading intelligence is born.

Global enthusiasm for this grand hackathon continues to surge. At the time of writing, 693 hackers from around the world have already registered, forming 387 BUIDLs (teams) competing to showcase their AI trading capabilities. Driven by overwhelming demand from AI traders, quantitative teams, and crypto builders worldwide, WEEX opened a second registration window — Forked Entry — following the successful close of the Early Bird registration on December 31, 2025, directly responding to strong community interest.

·Registration: Ended Dec 31, 2025, 23:59 (UTC+8)
·Competition start: Jan 12, 2026, 12:00 (UTC+8)
·Competition end: Jan 30, 2026 (UTC+8)
·Format:

·8–10 BUIDLs per group
·1,000 USDT allocated per BUIDL
·AI strategies run for 3 weeks
·Top 2 BUIDLs per group advance to the finals

·Registration deadline: Jan 18, 2026, 23:59 (UTC+8)
·Competition start: Jan 19, 2026, 12:00 (UTC+8)
·Competition end: Jan 30, 2026 (UTC+8)
·Format:

·8–10 BUIDLs per group
·1,000 USDT allocated per BUIDL
·AI strategies run for 2 weeks
·Top 1 BUIDL per group advances to the finals

Register now — this is the final opportunity to enter the WEEX AI trading battlefield: https://www.weex.com/events/ai-trading

In AI Wars, time is strategy — and the clock is already ticking.

While the competition runs globally online, AI Wars: WEEX Alpha Awakens is designed as a hybrid hackathon that blends digital scale with real-world interaction. The finals will officially open in Dubai on February 1, 2026, followed by a 2.5-week Europe tour featuring workshops in Germany, Poland, Netherlands, UK, Russia, Grance, Spain, etc., covering a variety of activities, including university sessions, technical deep-dives, live final-round broadcasts, on-site short-term trading challenges, and human-versus-AI trading battles. Together, these offline events transform AI Wars into a living, traveling AI trading laboratory—connecting developers, researchers, traders, and institutions across borders and accelerating innovation as AI moves from codebases into real-world markets.

AI Wars: WEEX Alpha Awakens is powered by a powerhouse lineup of global sponsors, including cloud giants Amazon Web Services (AWS), Tencent Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, and leading Web3 and AI projects such as Hubble AI and CoinGecko. With dozens of partners across cloud infrastructure, Web3 data, and AI tooling, participants gain access to institutional-grade computing power, advanced market and on-chain data, cloud credits, exclusive APIs, and expanded social and community exposure—ensuring they are fully equipped to build production-grade AI trading systems.

As the Title Sponsor, AWS, together with AISANIE, is providing $1,000,000 in AWS Activate Credits to support AI trading teams with scalable infrastructure, production-ready AI tooling, and the ability to build, test, and deploy at global scale. Each winning team can receive up to $50,000 in AWS support, giving participants the resources to compete, innovate, and showcase their strategies on a global stage. In AI Wars, talent meets technology, ambition meets opportunity, and the future of trading is built one line of code at a time.

AI Wars: WEEX Alpha Awakens is WEEX’s strategic push into the future of trading, accelerating platform intelligence and discovering top AI strategists. The hackathon gives AI trading and quant finance teams a rare chance to test models in real markets with transparency, open development, and real capital. For the global crypto community, AI Wars marks a new era—where algorithms compete openly, talent is discovered worldwide, and AI becomes a core trading primitive. Here, code is capital, strategy is identity, and the future of trading unfolds in real time.

Founded in 2018, WEEX has developed into a global crypto exchange with over 6.2 million users across more than 150 countries. The platform emphasizes security, liquidity, and usability, providing over 1,200 spot trading pairs and offering up to 400x leverage in crypto futures trading. In addition to traditional spot and derivatives markets, WEEX is expanding rapidly in the AI era — delivering real-time AI news, empowering users with AI trading tools, and exploring innovative trade-to-earn models that make intelligent trading more accessible to everyone. Its 1,000 BTC Protection Fund further strengthens asset safety and transparency, while features such as copy trading and advanced trading tools allow users to follow professional traders and experience a more efficient, intelligent trading journey.

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Instagram: @WEEX Exchange

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YouTube: @WEEX_Global

Discord: WEEX Community

Telegram: WeexGlobal Group

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In crypto markets — one of the most unforgiving non-stationary systems — strategy failure is rarely caused by models being too simple. It happens because most strategies are never truly exposed to live-market pressure. This is exactly the problem WEEX AI Trading Hackathon is designed to surface — shifting the focus from theoretical innovation to real deployability, real execution, and real performance. Among the participating teams, AOT Matrix stood out with advanced AI-driven quantitative capabilities. Through its V4.4 dual-brain architecture, the system achieved end-to-end optimization — from core logic to execution — reflecting the platform’s dual emphasis on innovation and real-world performance.