Wrapping Up the Mercata V2 Contest

September 24, 2025•by Jordan Cole•General

Yesterday, our long-awaited Mercata V2 Contest came to a close after a week of exciting trading and bug hunting on the Mercata testnet. From September 17th to 23rd, our community put the pre-release version of Mercata V2 through its paces, stress-testing the new bridge between Ethereum Sepolia and Mercata, trading across major assets, and searching for critical exploits.

Celebrating Our Winners 🎉

We are thrilled to announce the winners across the two main categories:

  • Trading Champion – Asba
    Asba secured the top spot in the Bridge and Trade category by strategically managing positions and taking advantage of major price swings during the contest. Their ability to balance all major Mercata assets (USDST, ETHST, WBTCST, GOLDST, SILVST) while maximizing asset value demonstrated both sharp timing and a deep understanding of the Mercata trading environment.
  • Exploit Hunter – dadajuice
    Security is at the heart of Mercata, and our bug bounty-style testing brought valuable insights. The standout contribution came from dadajuice, who discovered a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability. This critical finding underscored the importance of rigorous security testing in decentralized finance applications and helped us strengthen the upcoming release of Mercata V2.

Find the full leaderboard here

Why This Matters

The contest wasn’t just about competition—it was about preparing Mercata V2 for its upcoming mainnet launch. By blending trading competition with exploit hunting, we ensured:

  • Realistic stress testing of our trading engine and bridge.
  • Early identification of critical security issues, preventing potential future exploits.
  • Community engagement that helps shape a stronger, more secure, and more user-friendly Mercata platform.

What’s Next

With Mercata V2 scheduled for release later this year, these insights will be incorporated into the final rollout. We’re grateful to everyone who participated, tested, and contributed feedback.

This contest proved that building the future of decentralized finance isn’t just about technology—it’s about community, collaboration, and resilience.

Stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to launch. And once again, congratulations to Asba and dadajuice for their standout performances!