IOHK brings Plutus to Wyoming's hackathon

The state of Wyoming is famous for being part of the American frontier, but it has also established a new reputation, with blockchain pioneers blazing trails in the Cowboy State. But why Wyoming?

The blockchain revolution in Wyoming is the result of a series of laws and regulations passed within its borders. These key pieces of legislation include exemptions from money transmitting laws for virtual assets, as well as a blockchain ‘sandbox’ bill that would allow decentralized businesses to operate free from the red tape encountered elsewhere in the US. The state is also home to the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition, headed by former Wall Street corporate financier Caitlin Long, which has worked to make Wyoming the standard-bearer of blockchain in the country.

In 2018, IOHK relocated its headquarters to Wyoming to take advantage of the state’s legislative embracing of distributed ledger technology, making it the biggest decentralized company in the state. As a result, IOHK has become a nexus for developers, crypto enthusiasts, businesses, and government officials in the area. Events like the 2019 WyoHackathon bring these groups together to advance the cutting edge of blockchain innovation.

‘We’re thrilled to welcome the Cardano community to this special event in IOHK’s home state,’ says Caitlin Long. The event has also inspired a group of high school students from a remote part of Wyoming to make the journey to participate in the hackathon and meet IOHK CEO, Charles Hoskinson. ‘There is something special building between the University of Wyoming computer science department and Cardano!’ she adds.

The hackathon will see hundreds of developers participating in workshops, presenting papers, and acquainting themselves with new technology. Charles Hoskinson and Cardano’s senior product manager David Esser will be among the speakers at the event, alongside prominent leaders in the blockchain industry such as Jesse Powell of Kraken and Anthony Pompliano of Morgan Creek Digital. September marks the second anniversary of the Cardano project and is a milestone for IOHK, with several major advances to Cardano being delivered. Plutus engineers Jann Müller and Michael Peyton Jones will be at the event to explain how work on Cardano is progressing to create the ideal environment for smart contract development and execution.

Last but certainly not least, the next iteration of the Plutus framework will be released during the hackathon. Plutus is a functional programming language and smart contract platform that allows developers of all kinds to launch smart contracts on the Cardano network. While Ethereum paved the way for programmable blockchains, it also has some significant barriers to entry. IOHK aims to bring greater scalability, sustainability, and interoperability to the crypto sphere by allowing anyone to build on a distributed ledger. Ultimately, it is developers that will build the businesses which will solve local and international problems. Plutus was created to enable those developers, and is supported by an IOHK-created [programming book](https://www.amazon.com/Plutus-Writing-reliable-smart-contracts-ebook/dp/B07V46LWTW "Plutus ebook on Amazon, amazon.com").

Both Wyoming and IOHK have aligned their interests in supporting the next generation of thinkers in distributed ledger technology. Events like the hackathon help to inspire and elevate those who will build the decentralized infrastructure of the future. We hope that the 2019 WyoHackathon will be another pioneering step on the road towards better, more comprehensive adoption and use of both blockchain and crypto technology.

To find out more, check out the [WyoHackathon 2019 website](https://wyohackathon.io/ "WyoHackathon 2019 website, wyohackathon.io").