Permaweb Journal Team
Something special happened this past week in Bengaluru.
Arweave Day India set the standard for what is possible for the permaweb community. A standalone event organized by and for builders, creators, and contributors who believe in the vision of a permanent, censorship-resistant internet.
While many permaweb meetups occur as side events of larger crypto conferences, this one stood on its own. Over 250 attendees gathered for Day 2 of the event, which featured ecosystem keynotes, technical demos, hacker showcases, merch giveaways, and a closing night patio set featuring Indo-fusion music at the Bengaluru Science Gallery.
The energy was vibrant, with many permaweb newcomers eager to learn more. It felt like the permaweb was stepping into a new chapter for community engagement
The opening keynote by Arweave and AO founder Sam Williams was philosophical, personal, and deeply reflective on his experience building Arweave and AO.
He reflected on the changing nature of speech in the digital age. In physical life, (most) public spaces protect free speech. Online, most communication happens inside private platforms owned by corporations. Sam built Arweave to create a public space for speech in a place where data can persist, uncensored.
Then came AO.
Sam discussed how human interaction with cyberspace is accelerating. As we move from desktops to phones, to wearables and soon to embedded devices, the digital layer becomes more egalitarian than the physical world. The example used was that billionaires may stay in a different hotel than the rest of the population, but the billionaire still pays the same Spotify subscription of me and you.
The internet will only become more immersive and egalitarian as the technology improves. But as more of society is mediated through apps and agents, centralized compute becomes a critical point of failure. AO was created to offer a truly decentralized supercomputer that can’t be shut down. A protocol for computation, not just storage.
His closing advice to builders: Build something amazing that you believe in, something that get's you excited each and everyday, no matter how hard it is.
Before Arweave Day India, 28 builders participated in a 2-day Hacker House following a 12-day online buildathon.
Projects explored areas like dev tooling, onchain marketing, document vaults, token agents, and no-code AO tooling
Mentors and past cohort alumni offered guidance
Sam Williams joined in for feedback and whiteboarding sessions
Final demos were presented live at the event
$20K in scholarships and $10K in bounties were awarded
A new launchpad initiative was announced to support promising projects going forward
The Hacker House continues to prove itself as a meaningful on-ramp for builders entering the ecosystem, by giving builders the resources needed to build from financial capital, networking and mentorship.
Follow Arweave India on X for updates on the Hacker House projects and stay up to date on the next Hacker House event
Day 2 included:
Live project demos from incubated teams
Community keynotes from protocol teams and contributors
A surprise “Vibe Code” mini-hackathon open to devs, designers, and the permaweb curious for a $500 prize
Hacker House Cohort 04 winners announced
Fusion music, food, and late-night conversations on the Science Gallery patio
The winners were announced for the Hacker House Cohort 4.
$5000 Flux - mcp server built for AO and Arweave
$3000 Permasign- Verifiable, Immutable, and Permanent E-Signed Agreement Management Solution.
$2000 FlowWeave - No-code platform to drag, connect, and automate Web2 & Web3 workflows
The team behind the Arweave India event showed what is possible with building a standalone IRL event with an excited developer and creative community.
The key to the success of this event was the genuine human connection. Builders felt welcomed and supported during the Hacker House. There was a sense of competition but also camaraderie by the builders because they had to apply and win a spot in the event.
The participants that came to the Arweave India event were also welcomed in with open arms. Many joined without any knowledge of Arweave or even crypto so the team was eager to answer any questions or guide newcomers.
Stay tuned for more updates from the the builders and projects that emerged out of the Arweave India event.
More events are coming to the permaweb ecosystem, so stay tuned for more updates, and Follow @permawebjournal for more.
Catch up with the event recaps:
The Arweave India Hacker House Cohort 4 is now underway, bringing together a new wave of builders pushing the boundaries of the permaweb.
After a late night of hacking, fueled by caffeine and permavibes, projects are starting to take shape. Check out the latest from inside the Hacker House.
Hacker House participants were invited to a closed-door Arweave Day India session at the Bengaluru Science Gallery. Here's the recap of the day.
All event photos courtesy of @arweaveindia on X.
