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 three-month period, he established a reputation by participating in and winning awards at several high-profile global hackathons. 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] He later joined EverclearOrg as a Founding Engineer, where he is involved in building a clearing layer for DeFi to address settlement fragmentation.^[1]

Projects and Achievements

Between July and October 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.

These projects were detailed in a social media post by De Stefani on October 8, 2025, where he chronicled his work from his first three months in the crypto industry. ^[2]