Dark Research AI just dropped some exciting news for the crypto community, especially those diving into Solana's ecosystem. They're putting up a $10,000 prize in the Solana x402 Hackathon for the best product built on top of their open-source project, Mallory. This bumps their total open-source funding this week to $20,000, and they've hinted at even bigger plans ahead.

If you're into meme tokens, this is worth paying attention to. Solana has become a hotspot for meme coin launches and trading, thanks to its fast transactions and low fees. Mallory, Dark's latest creation, could be a game-changer for analyzing and interacting with these volatile assets.

Mallory is essentially an AI chat app that feels familiar at first—like chatting with any smart assistant. But under the hood, it's powered by x402, a cutting-edge protocol on Solana designed for AI-driven payments and agent economies. Think of x402 as the rails for the future internet: it enables seamless, internet-native micropayments tailored for AI applications. In the hackathon, which runs from October 28 to November 11, 2025, developers are encouraged to build tools, apps, and agents that leverage this tech.

What makes Mallory stand out? It's mobile-native, crypto-native, and AI-native all in one. It comes pre-loaded with 19 APIs from Nansen, a top-tier blockchain analytics tool, giving users access to premium on-chain data for just $0.001 per call. For meme token hunters, this means you can query real-time data on token performance, wallet activities, and market trends without breaking the bank.

Dark launched Mallory in partnership with Corbits, and it's fully open-source. You can fork the code on GitHub and start building your own versions. The team sees it as a foundation for consumer apps that blend AI with blockchain, especially in ecosystems like Solana where meme tokens thrive.

This $10,000 prize is part of Dark's broader push into open source. Earlier this week, they allocated another $10,000 for contributions to Mallory's codebase, powered by Merit Systems on Solana. If you're a developer, submitting a pull request (PR) could earn you cash if it gets merged. It's a straightforward way to get involved and get paid.

For the hackathon prize, focus on creating something innovative on top of Mallory. Maybe a meme token scanner that uses AI to predict pumps, or an agent that automates trades based on on-chain signals. The overall hackathon has up to $50,000 in prizes, with more sponsors like Visa, Phantom, and Coinbase jumping in. Submissions are due by November 11, and winners will be announced on November 17.

Dark's move aligns with their vision of an AI-powered future where code is commoditized, and open source drives collaboration. As they put it in their blog post, this is about attracting talent, standardizing solutions, and building community momentum.

If you're a blockchain practitioner or meme token aficionado, this is your cue to jump in. Head over to mallory.fun to try it out, check the hackathon details, and start brainstorming. What could you build to snag that $10,000? The agent economy is heating up, and Solana's meme scene might just get a whole lot smarter.