We stand on the shoulders of giants. The work of the Cypherpunks and the global collective action of the last decades to encrypt and secure our data and internet has granted all humans freedom from control and increased personal sovereignty.

It is 2025, we are all aware that surveillance capitalism exists growing like the cancer it is. Affecting the foundational basics of human rights and freedom. Instead of shouting fire without acting upon it; W3PN calls on all of you to build the future tools to keep these malicious forces outside. Outside of our systems, our societies, our world, outside the environment we care about. These tools and applications create an immune system, a defensive line, a surveillance firewall protecting personal privacy. It shields our relationships, day-to-day challenges, and our deepest fears from the prying eyes of whom we did not consent to.

All humans need privacy, not only for their personal lives but also in their professional lives;; consider for a moment how privacy tooling protects journalists, whistleblowers, politicians, human rights activists. Encryption and digital privacy saves lives and keeps us safe. Some of these privacy-preserving applications are not intuitive or easy to use. While many of those lives depend on it. Whether it is a politician in Myanmar, a nurse being stalked by an ex-lover, or a teenager sharing their location with their parents securely.

Cypherpunks build tools for those who are seeking privacy, also for those who don't know they need it or do not yet see how important privacy is. Cypherpunks build systems for both.

We all have heard the now legendary words of Eric Hughes:

"Cypherpunks write code. We know that someone has to write software to defend privacy, and since we can't get privacy unless we all do, we're going to write it. We publish our code so that our fellow Cypherpunks may practice and play with it. Our code is free for all to use, worldwide. We don't much care if you don't approve of the software we write. We know that software can't be destroyed and that a widely dispersed system can't be shut down."

For some people, this implies a "show me the code or STFU" mindset, believing that only programmers and software engineers should be Cypherpunks. This perspective is flawed; for privacy to work in practice, privacy needs to be practical. It is not merely a problem solved by submitting a pull request.

Privacy applications and protocols need the skills of translators, designers, testers, writers, communications specialists, trainers, lobbyists, business developers, and educators.

W3PN_Hacks invites all hackers with skills and a passion to build the tools and applications to defend our future. Support public-goods and open-source tooling to join us in improving the digital privacy of all human beings around the world. You will be joining forces with experienced blockchain hackathon winners, OG web2 hackers, software engineers, internet experts, human rights activists, researchers, and many more. Together with those passionate about creating privacy-preserving applications and resisting online surveillance.

W3PN_Hacks is agnostic to the technology, applications, stacks, cryptographic primitives, and architectures that are being hacked on, as long as it improves the privacy of the users and the output is fully open-sourced. We desire privacy tooling not for only one ecosystem, blockchain, or application. There are no "protocol" specific tracks in this hackathon.

W3PN_Hacks will curate a welcoming and stimulating environment where hackers are free to build whatever project they see fit, or jump-in on other projects that are ongoing, or propose something completely new. We are intentionally breaking the mindset of traditional hackathons where "teams" compete for "prizes", and there is little connection between hackers and their projects.

Our collaborative approach puts privacy impact at the core, we care for what we build whilst having fun, sharing, and learning together.

We are the next wave.

It is time for us to step up and lead by example, empower the next generation of Cypherpunks and build the tooling for digital self-defence and sovereignty.

Let the software you build embody the Cypherpunk ethos of bringing practical privacy for all users. We build for users and the future, addressing challenges we observe and experience in our current world, not for some prize money and VC-baiting. We deliberately avoid the greed-driven trap of only building to raise shared holder value, increase data-mining and pump ad revenue for corporations.

We invite you to build without the concern for monetisation, app-store requirements, product-market fit or having some shiny slides and a perfect pitch by a 2pm deadline. Along with this, we seek to curate an inclusive environment and break the silos of knowledge, by openly sharing and cross-pollinating ideas. Inviting hackers from all ecosystems to put their tribalism and Twitter drama aside.

Together, we can do better through open collaboration. We are building the tools we need to remain private and safe in a hostile digital reality. We are not just building apps; we are hacking our future.