Vincenzo Imperati
I am a PhD student in Computer Science at Sapienza University of Rome.
I research distributed systems such as blockchain and social networks, with a focus on the social dynamics between users and the impact these interactions have, particularly regarding the implications for privacy and security.
I am also a FOSS developer working on BigBrotr, a full archive & monitoring system for the Nostr protocol, designed to map active relays, analyze network behavior, and provide a bird’s-eye view of the ecosystem to support transparency, research, and user empowerment.
Education
PhD in Computer Science (November 2023 - present)
Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- Research topics: Distributed Systems, Security and Privacy, Blockchain, Social Networks, OSINT
- Advisor: Alessandro Mei
Master of Science in Computer Science (September 2021 - October 2023)
Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- Average exam grade: 29.08/30
- Final grade: 110/110 with honours
- Thesis: The Conspiracy Money Machine: Uncovering Telegram’s Conspiracy Channels and their Profit Model
- Supervisor: Alessandro Mei
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (September 2018 - July 2021)
Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- Average exam grade: 28.10/30
- Final grade: 110/110 with honours
- Thesis: Evaluation of a Home Energy Management System based on Reinforcement Learning
- Supervisor: Igor Melatti
Professional Experience
Student Assistant (February 2023 - July 2023)
Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- Tutoring fellowship for Introduction to Algorithms, Object-Oriented Programming, Algorithm Design
SystemsLab Collaborator (October 2022 - October 2023)
Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- Research collaboration with the SystemsLab research group
Student Assistant (June 2022 - January 2023)
Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- Tutoring fellowship for Introduction to Computer Programming
Student Assistant (April 2021 - July 2021)
Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- Tutoring fellowship for Introduction to Computer Programming, Object-Oriented Programming
Publications
USENIX Security (August 2025, Seattle, Washington, USA)
- Paper: The Conspiracy Money Machine: Uncovering Telegram’s Conspiracy Channels and their Profit Model
Work Experience
Data Analyst and Italian Community Ambassador (December 2022 - November 2023)
Seed Captain (Remote)
- Project data analyst
- Discord and Telegram community moderator for Seed Captain built on MultiversX
Data Analyst and Italian Community Ambassador (September 2022 - August 2024)
Cantina Royale (Remote)
- Project data analyst
- Discord and Telegram community moderator for Cantina Royale built on MultiversX
Awards and Honours
Master of Science Honours Program in Computer Science (October 2023)
Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- Topic: Process mining and distributed ledger analytics
- Supervisor: Claudio Di Ciccio
BUCA’23 Summer School (September 2023)
BICI Events x Google, Varenna, Italy
- Challenges in building Billion Users Cloud Applications
Bachelor of Science Honours Program in Computer Science (July 2021)
Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- Topic: Algorithms and tools for Smart Cities and Smart Grids
- Supervisor: Igor Melatti
Hackathons
HackParty 2025 (March 2025, Pi Campus, Rome, Italy)
- Award: 🥇 1st prize
Italian XRPL Hackathon 2024 (November 2024, De Componendis Cifris x XRPL Commons, Rome, Italy)
- Project: Enhancing election integrity - An Ethereum-based election system utilizing homomorphic encryption and zero-knowledge proofs
- Award: 🥇 1st prize (De Componendis Cifris)
ETHRome 2024 (October 2024, Urbe ETH, Rome, Italy)
- Project: Safeblow - Empowering whistleblowers to securely and privately submit their reports
- Awards:
- 🥇 1st prize (Web3Privacy Now)
- 🥇 1st prize (LaserRomae s.r.l.)
Hackathon24 BEST Roma (April 2024, BEST Roma, Rome, Italy)
- Award: 🥉 3rd prize
Web3 ATL Hackathon (November 2023, 404 DAO, Remote)
- Award: 🥉 3rd prize (Revest Finance)
Randstad AI Hackathon 2023 (March 2023, VGen x Randstad, Rome, Italy)
- Award: 🥉 3rd prize
Languages
- Italian: Native proficiency
- English: B2
- French: A2