Riptide\/Bering Waters\/Invariant
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Bering Waters Group — a leading OTC, venture, and technology group based in Hong Kong — has awarded $30,000 to a team of blockchain developers in Poland who are boosting liquidity in the Solana token market and making it easier to buy and sell the proof-of-history digital currency.

Invariant, a peer-to-peer Automated Market Maker (AMM) and Decentralized Exchange (DEX), was judged by Bering Waters to be the best Polish-based project in the global Solana Riptide Hackathon. The prize, sponsored by Bering Waters and one of 57 awards announced by Hackathon organizers, will support the continued work of Invariant to increase liquidity in the Solana ecosystem.

The award is part of a long-term strategy for Bering Waters: Building a stronger developer community inside Poland. 

"My career in finance and technology has taken me all over the world, but I was born in Poland," said Ewelina Leszczak, Founder and CEO of Bering Waters Group. "It gives me great pride to see Poland emerge as a major hub of blockchain innovation and the whole team at Bering Waters is committed to supporting this growth." 

Invariant — which can be found online at https://invariant.app — is a peer-to-peer system for exchanging assets on the Solana blockchain. The company's next-generation protocol is implemented as a set of smart contracts that prioritize efficiency, censorship resistance, security, and self-custody, with a focus on decentralization and performance, thanks to a concentrated liquidity feature.

"When factoring in all of our judging variables, Invariant was the clear winner of the prize," said Yuriy Kashnikov, Bering Waters Tech Lead. "This project builds an AMM DEX focused on concentrated liquidity that supports a long list of wallets, something sorely needed on blockchain. The developers did amazing work on its codebase, and they have plans to build this project long after this Hackathon is behind them." 

"With the funds we received from Bering Waters, we are working to transform our project from good to great on Solana in the next several months," said Wojciech Cichocki, CEO of Invariant Labs. "It's great that a global player like Bering Waters Group sees untapped potential in tech talent on the Polish market and directed its prize toward developers like us. We have talent in our country and are thrilled they are working to help all of us grow." 

The Bering Waters judging team, headed by Kashnikov and Michael Weinrub, Tech Business Lead, looked at several factors, including market readiness, team presentation, value-added to the Solana ecosystem, and the winner's future vision and goals for the project beyond this Hackathon.

"With the $30,000 prize, Bering Waters ensured that developers and teams in Poland building exciting projects on the blockchain today had the opportunity to use the most suited underlying infrastructure, had access to Solana, and — most importantly — a chance to receive strategic funding," Weinrub said. "We're pleased Invariant now has a real chance to flourish."

Bering Waters is committed to expanding the size and utilization of the Solana ecosystem through a range of initiatives, including targeted investments, businesses and internal projects. Bering Waters is also supporting educational and mentorship programs to grow Poland's blockchain workforce and prepare local entrepreneurs for success on the global stage.

Bering Waters has a longstanding commitment to the expansion of the Solana ecosystem. For example, in December 2020, Bering Waters led the creation of the SOLAR Bridge, a first-of-its-kind technology to transfer data from the high-performance blockchain, Solana, to a permanent and decentralized storage solution, Arweave.

As an investor in both companies, Bering Waters was uniquely positioned to see the potential for Solana and Arweave to solve an imminent problem for all blockchains as they scale to meet the needs of financial networks.

NOTE TO EDITOR: Both Michael Weinrub, Bering Waters Tech Business Lead, and Yuriy Kashnikov, Bering Waters Tech Lead, are available for follow-up interviews regarding this prize. Please contact marketing@beringwaters.com to schedule a conversation.

About Bering Waters Group

Founded in 2018, Bering Waters Group is a group of three blockchain and cryptocurrency companies that provides a decisive advantage to its wide network of financial institutions, blockchain companies, and high-ticket individual investors worldwide. The group comprises the following industry-leading businesses: Bering Waters OTC, Bering Waters Ventures, and Bering Waters Tech. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Bering Waters Group is delivering solutions that push the boundaries limiting the mainstream adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrency. 

About Bering Waters Tech

Founded in 2020, Bering Waters Tech is a technology development and advisory business cooperating in strategic ways with Bering Waters Group portfolio companies. Within the partnerships, it is responsible for strategic placements of developer resources to solve the tech-talent shortage, accelerate product timelines, and create in-house innovative solutions and technologies.

Contact: marketing@beringwaters.com