Vincenzo Imperati#

Open Source Developer — OpenSats (August 2025 – Present)#

Received an OpenSats grant to build BigBrotr, an open-source observatory and archive for the Nostr protocol. The system continuously processes over 100,000 daily events sourced from more than 1,000 relays across 4 overlay networks (clearnet, Tor, I2P, Lokinet), providing a comprehensive and transparent view of the Nostr ecosystem.

I designed and implemented five asynchronous services that work together to map, monitor, and archive the network:

• Seeder — bootstraps relay discovery from known sources
• Finder — discovers new relays through network exploration
• Validator — verifies relay connectivity and availability
• Monitor — measures round-trip times, SSL certificates, DNS records, and GeoIP data
• Synchronizer — archives events with cursor-based tracking for incremental syncing

The entire system supports custom deployments from a single codebase and is published on PyPI and GHCR.

Software Engineer — Freelance (November 2024 – March 2025)#

Developed a mobile application for a €7M European Union project featuring cultivar recognition for over 600 olive varieties, combining computer vision with domain-specific agricultural data to assist researchers and farmers in the field.

Additionally, built a cloud-based HR management system for an Italian company, digitizing employee workflows including time tracking, leave management, and internal communications, replacing legacy paper-based processes.

Competitive Developer (March 2023 – November 2025)#

Won 10 prizes across 6 international hackathons, consistently building functional prototypes in 24–48 hour sprints. Key projects include:

• DotFusion — A trustless cross-chain protocol enabling direct atomic swaps between Ethereum and Polkadot using Hash Time-Locked Contracts (HTLCs) and Polkadot’s XCM Precompile, eliminating the need for intermediaries or wrapped tokens.
• Nostreum — The first on-chain cross-protocol identity verification system linking Ethereum wallets and Nostr identities through cryptographic proofs, enabling social-financial interactions across ecosystems.
• MeltyFi — An NFT lending protocol where lenders purchase lottery tickets to fund loans. Borrowers face zero liquidation risk, and in case of default, collateral is distributed via lottery to ticket holders.
• OmniCredit — An omnichain lending protocol that builds continuous, cross-chain credit scores from on-chain activity, enabling under-collateralized borrowing across multiple networks.

Data Analyst — Cantina Royale (September 2022 – August 2024)#

Built a unified data overview for the Cantina Royale gaming ecosystem, combining on-chain NFT data (characters, weapons, transactions), off-chain game logs and database records, and marketplace pricing and sales data across more than 20 million transactions from approximately 200,000 addresses.

Detected a critical exploit by cross-referencing on-chain reward payouts with off-chain match logs, discovering that players were earning uncapped rewards from lost matches. Flagged the vulnerability immediately, enabling a rapid fix that prevented further economic damage to the game’s token economy.

Built a React-based analytics platform serving 1,000+ monthly active users with real-time data visualization, dashboards, and interactive charts that provided actionable insights to both the team and the player community.

Teaching Assistant — Sapienza University (April 2021 – July 2023)#

Awarded 3 teaching fellowships across 4 undergraduate Computer Science courses: Introduction to Computer Programming, Introduction to Algorithms, Object-Oriented Programming, and Algorithm Design. Delivered weekly tutoring sessions to classes of 200+ students, covering topics from foundational programming concepts to advanced algorithmic problem-solving.

PhD in Computer Science (November 2023 – Expected October 2026)#

Sapienza University, Rome, Italy

• Research focuses on user behavior analysis in distributed systems, including blockchains and social networks
• Published USENIX Security research analyzing 400M+ messages across 121k Telegram channels
• Visiting PhD student at ETH Zurich, Switzerland (September 2025 – February 2026)
• Advisor: Alessandro Mei

Master of Science in Computer Science (September 2021 – October 2023)#

Sapienza University, Rome, Italy — GPA 3.88/4.0

• 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 — GPA 3.75/4.0

• Final grade: 110/110 with honours
• Thesis: Evaluation of a Home Energy Management System based on Reinforcement Learning
• Supervisor: Igor Melatti

USENIX Security (August 2025, Seattle, Washington, USA)#

• Title: The Conspiracy Money Machine: Uncovering Telegram’s Conspiracy Channels and their Profit Model
• Authors: Vincenzo Imperati, Massimo La Morgia, Alessandro Mei, Alberto Maria Mongardini, Francesco Sassi

Outstanding University Student 2025#

Selected as one of the top 400 master’s graduates university-wide, recognized for exceptional academic achievement and research contributions.

Master of Science Honours Program in Computer Science (October 2023)#

Sapienza University, Rome, Italy

• Selected as top 3 of 150 students in the master’s program
• Honours project topic: Process Mining and Analytics
• Supervisor: Claudio Di Ciccio

Bachelor of Science Honours Program in Computer Science (July 2021)#

Sapienza University, Rome, Italy

• Selected as top 6 of 300 students in the bachelor’s program
• Honours project topic: Algorithms and Tools for Smart Cities and Smart Grids
• Supervisor: Igor Melatti

ETHRome 2025 (October 2025, Urbe ETH, Rome, Italy)#

• Project: DotFusion — Trustless cross-chain protocol for direct ETH ↔ DOT atomic swaps using HTLCs and Polkadot XCM, eliminating intermediaries and wrapped tokens
• Awards:
  • 🥇 1st prize (1inch)
  • 🥇 1st prize (Polkadot)
  • 🥇 1st prize (BuidlGuidl)
  • 🥇 Honorable Mention (ENS)

Sui Hackathon (September 2025, Sui x BSA, Lausanne, Switzerland)#

• Project: MeltyFi — NFT lending protocol where lenders buy lottery tickets to fund loans with zero liquidation risk and collateral distributed via lottery upon default
• Awards: 🥇 Most Innovative Project

Baltic Honeybadger Hackathon 2025 (August 2025, Baltic Honeybadger, Riga, Latvia)#

• Project: Relay Shadow — Nostr DVM that gives privacy-focused relay recommendations using real network data to match your threat model & social graph
• Awards: 🥉 3rd prize

NapulETH Hackathon 2025 (July 2025, NapulETH, Naples, Italy)#

• Project: Nostreum — First on-chain bridge linking Ethereum & Nostr identities! Connect your wallet, verify cryptographically, and unlock social-financial superpowers across ecosystems
• Awards:
  • 🥇 1st prize (BuidlGuidl)
  • 🥇 1st prize (Cyberscope)
  • 🥇 1st prize (Grow3.ai)
  • 🥉 3rd prize (Avalanche)

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: On-Chain 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