Andrei De Stefani is a Web3 and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) engineer and entrepreneur. He gained recognition within the blockchain industry in 2025 for developing several award-winning projects during a series of international hackathons. ^[1]

Education

Andrei De Stefani is studying Financial Technology at the University of Southampton from September 2024 to June 2027. ^[2]

Career

De Stefani entered the cryptocurrency development space around July 2025. In the subsequent four-month period, he established a reputation by participating in and winning awards at several high-profile global hackathons, securing six consecutive victories. His work during this time focused on DeFi, AI-integrated payment systems, and novel prediction markets. He competed in events held in South Korea, the United States, France, and Germany, receiving recognition from organizations such as ETHGlobal, Coinbase, Hyperliquid, TOKEN2049, Polkadot, and Chiliz. In an online post summarizing this period, De Stefani stated, "Proud to be a builder in this amazing ecosystem. Excited for what's next and can't wait to share the journey." ^[2] On November 30, 2025, following his hackathon success, he announced joining the team at Base to work on "shipping smart wallets."^[2]

Projects and Achievements

Between July and November 2025, De Stefani developed multiple projects that won prizes and accolades at various industry events.

• HyperFlash: A DeFi tool for instant fund transfers and trade execution across different protocols, eliminating the need for slow blockchain bridges. The project was named a winner at the HyperliquidX hackathon in South Korea.
• MicroPay: A payment system enabling artificial intelligence agents to transact with any cryptocurrency on any network. MicroPay was a winner at the TOKEN2049 hackathon and was developed using technology from CoinbaseDev, Polkadot, and hyperbridge. ^[2]
• X402-Flash: An instant, AI-ready payment solution that leverages the x402 protocol and an escrow mechanism to bypass slow blockchain settlement times. This project was a finalist at ETHGlobal NYC and received a Main Prize from CoinbaseDev.
• MatchMind: A live prediction platform for football matches where users predict in-game events on a minute-by-minute basis. The project won 1st place and a $15,000 prize at a hackathon hosted by Chiliz in France.
• CurveCast: A prediction market where participants forecast the entire probability distribution curve of an outcome, rather than a simple binary result. CurveCast secured 1st place in the hyperbridge track at the WebZero hackathon in Germany.
• Aqua0: A permissionless clearing layer for DeFi that functions as a cross-chain shared liquidity marketplace. Built on 1inch's Aqua protocol and LayerZero, the project was recognized as a finalist at the ETHGlobal Buenos Aires 2025 hackathon.^[3]