Greetings from low-Earth orbit!
Welcome to the third and final winners’ announcement of the inaugural Spacecoin Writing Contest, presented by Spacecoin and HackerNoon!
This announcement marks an end to the incredible journey through space that we embarked on at the start of the year. One that garnered over 230 entries from writers across the globe, debating the mechanics of decentralizing internet infrastructure, blockchain’s utility in space technology and beyond, and the philosophy of open access.
Since the contest first launched, dozens of writers have won cash prizes for stories that pushed the limits of our collective imagination. And following in their footsteps, the Round 2 winners — including @dawnteh, @walo, @marcushaldd, and @bigmao — set a high bar with their thought-provoking insights on decentralized networks, tokenized economies, the future of digital sovereignty, and more.
The final round, which closed on October 7, 2025, was our most competitive yet, attracting over 100 new entries from writers vying for a share of the 15,000 USDT prize pool, divided across the main contest categories and special sponsor awards.
Now, as we wrap up this final chapter, let’s look at how Round 3 unfolded and celebrate the voices that made this contest one for the books!
The Spacecoin Writing Contest: Round 3 Finalists by Category
#decentralized-internet
- @nebojsaneshatodorovic for New Censors and Old Decentralized Internet Dreams
- @induction for How Nepal’s Gen Z Uprising Made the Case for a Decentralized Internet
- @mojomonkey for From Starlink to DePIN: How Satellites Are Powering a Decentralized Internet
- @kulibali for The Future of Information Freedom Might Be 550 Kilometers Above Earth
- @chayka for The Climate Cost of Centralized Clouds
#spacetech
- @innocentchuks for The Rise of On‑Orbit Servicing and Satellite Refueling as a New Space Industry
- @samuelogbonna138 for How Space Debris Cleanup Could Become the Next Trillion-Dollar Industry
- @nftbro for Spacecraft From the 90s, or Why Humanity Uses Last Century’s Technology in Space
- @lonewolf for Is Elon Musk’s Timeline for Mars Colonization Still Feasible After 2025?
- @hukanmpe for What If Your Electricity Came from Space?
#blockchain-use-case
- @askarajr for If Presidential Elections used Blockchain, Could We Finally Trust the Vote Again?
- @jonathansewanudaniel23_bis3efj for Why Blockchain Is the Future of Educational Proof
- @samuelogbonna138 for Blockchain Emerges as a Fix for Space’s Governance Void
- @thachosenone for Proof of Preservation: A Blockchain for Endangered Cultural Knowledge
- @joeysats for Why Gaming Needs a Game Changer: Decentralization and the Future of Play
#spacecoin
- @Cryptowavers for The Lost Dream of a Free Internet & How Spacecoin is Reviving it
- @hukanmpe for To Become a Type-1 Civilization, We Need a Type-1 Internet, and Spacecoin Might Be the Key
- @shelleymae for The Beginner’s Guide to Spacecoin and Decentralized Internet
- @induction for Spacecoin Saving Lives with Decentralized Connectivity
- @drechimyn for Internet from Space for the Price of a Coffee? Meet Spacecoin
#creditcoin
- @rissa for Loans, Scams, and the Blockchain Way Out
- @walo for Creditcoin’s Fix for eCommerce Transaction Risk: Conditional, On-Chain Payouts
- @winner2023 for The Dark Side of CBDCs
- @hacker91417835 for Building an On-Chain Credit Score on Creditcoin (A Builder’s Playbook)
- @lilypeace for The Creditcoin Network Creates Trust in On-Chain Credit Systems. Here’s How
#gluwa
- @chidinmaa for Can Gluwa Solve Nigeria’s Financial Inclusion Problem
- @nebojsaneshatodorovic for Gluwa – The Iron “Lady” of Global Financial Inclusion
- @cemmanuel for Gluwa Proves That Blockchain Is More Than Just Tokens
- @walo for Money is Data: Taking Gluwa’s Bridge to Pangea’s Web
- @diamondolmd for What Feature Phones Teach Us About Solving Nigeria’s Financial Inclusion Problem
These stories explored everything from the radical idea of a satellite-powered, decentralized internet and the next-trillion-dollar industries of on-orbit refueling and space debris cleanup, to crucial real-world applications like creating portable, transparent credit for the unbanked and decentralizing power within the massive gaming industry.
Whether you’re here for the science, the fiction, or the somewhere-in-between, these writers have something for you. Make sure to follow their work on HackerNoon!
Now, for the moment we’ve all been waiting for…
The Spacecoin Writing Contest: Round 3 Winners 🎉
The #decentralized-internet Category
The top-voted #decentralized-internet story for Round 3 of the Spacecoin Writing Contest is @mojomonkey’s “From Starlink to DePIN: How Satellites Are Powering a Decentralized Internet.”
https://hackernoon.com/from-starlink-to-depin-how-satellites-are-powering-a-decentralized-internet?embedable=true
TLDR: Starlink, a project by SpaceX, aims to turn the sky into a constellation of routers — part of the broader Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN) movement. DePIN envisions a web that’s not just online, but above the line (pun intended). Alongside this, Spacecoin pushes the idea further: a satellite-based blockchain network aiming to deliver connectivity and infrastructure in underserved or censored regions.
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Congratulations @mojomonkey, you’ve just won 1000 USDT!
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The #spacetech Category
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This category awards two winners!
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Winner
The top-voted #spacetech story for this round is “The Rise of On‑Orbit Servicing and Satellite Refueling as a New Space Industry,” by @innocentchuks
https://hackernoon.com/the-rise-of-onorbit-servicing-and-satellite-refueling-as-a-new-space-industry?embedable=true
TLDR: Looking forward, I think on-orbit servicing will gradually move from niche contracts to an essential utility, just as gas stations became essential once cars proliferated. By 2035, we may see a network of fuel depots along popular orbital lanes, robotic tenders doing upgrades and repairs and new spacecraft designed from day one to be serviced.
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Congratulations @innocentchuks, you’ve won 1000 USDT!
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Runner-up
The runner-up in the #spacetech category for this round is @samuelogbonna138 for “How Space Debris Cleanup Could Become the Next Trillion-Dollar Industry.”
https://hackernoon.com/how-space-debris-cleanup-could-become-the-next-trillion-dollar-industry?embedable=true
TLDR: Earth’s orbit is becoming dangerously crowded. Old satellites, broken rocket parts, and countless fragments of debris are crowding our orbits. One piece of junk could crash into a working satellite and create yet more debris. Space agencies and firms are racing each other to create cleanup technology that once sounded like science fiction.
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Congratulations @samuelogbonna138, you’ve won 500 USDT!
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The #blockchain-use-case Category
@joeysats’s “Why Gaming Needs a Game Changer: Decentralization and the Future of Play” is the top-voted #blockchain-use-case story for this round.
https://hackernoon.com/why-gaming-needs-a-game-changer-decentralization-and-the-future-of-play?embedable=true
TLDR: The video game industry brings in more money than the film and music industry combined. Yet despite gaming’s cultural mass, the loot mostly stays with the studios. A truly decentralized game could flip the script, letting communities preserve value.
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Congratulations @joeysats, you’ve won 500 USDT!
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The Spacecoin Writing Contest: Sponsor Category Winners 🎉
Spacecoin
The top-voted #spacecoin story is “To Become a Type-1 Civilization, We Need a Type-1 Internet, and Spacecoin Might Be the Key” by @hukanmpe
https://hackernoon.com/to-become-a-type-1-civilization-we-need-a-type-1-internet-and-spacecoin-might-be-the-key?embedable=true
TLDR: Spacecoin’s satellite-based decentralized network could help solve this gap between what we can do with technology and the limits of our infrastructure. As of 2024, about 2.6 billion people, or one-third of the world’s population, still don’t have internet access. The current internet was built for a world of countries and big companies, not for a global civilization.
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Congratulations @hukanmpe, you’ve won 2000 USDT!
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Creditcoin
@rissa’s “Loans, Scams, and the Blockchain Way Out” wins the #creditcoin category.
https://hackernoon.com/loans-scams-and-the-blockchain-way-out?embedable=true
TLDR: Traditional loan systems in low-income regions are broken, leaving people with no credit history and little access to fair lending. Creditcoin uses blockchain to build a transparent, tamper-proof credit history that borrowers can take anywhere, while giving lenders real data to make better decisions.
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Congratulations @rissa, you’ve won 2000 USDT!
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Gluwa
“Gluwa – The Iron ‘Lady’ of Global Financial Inclusion,” by @nebojsaneshatodorovic is the top-voted story in the #gluwa category.
https://hackernoon.com/gluwa-the-iron-lady-of-global-financial-inclusion?embedable=true
TLDR: Traditional banking systems left more than half of the world’s population unbanked, according to the World Bank, making it difficult for many people to access credit from mainstream lenders. To serve financially underserved countries, Gluwa uses its blockchain network, Creditcoin.
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Congratulations @nebojsaneshatodorovic, you’ve won 2000 USDT!
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Congratulations once again to all our winners. Thank you for your thoughtful contributions!
How to Claim Your HackerNoon Writing Contest Prize
- Contact [email protected] and [email protected] and share the email ID/and or wallet address attached to the winning HackerNoon account.
- We will validate your claim and share a form requesting your details for reward distribution.
- You will receive your winnings in 2-4 weeks after completing the form.
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Please note that you must contact us within 60 days after the winners’ announcement date.
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Want to feature on our next winners’ list?
Subscribe to the HackerNoon Contests page stay up to date on the latest writing contest info.
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