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How 250 Students, 40 Schools, and One Vision Turned an LNbits Hackathon into a Movement

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    LNbits
How 250 Students, 40 Schools, and One Vision Turned an LNbits Hackathon into a Movement

Across 40 schools in El Salvador, 250 students took their very first steps into a world that most adults never fully grasp. They earned their Bitcoin Diploma.
They learned about the Cypherpunk Manifesto, about privacy, about why sovereignty over your own money matters.
They discovered how APIs work and how Bitcoin is more than a currency — it is a doorway to opportunity.

Only after this foundation was built did the next adventure begin. Last Wednesday marked the stunning finale of that adventure:

The LNBits Hackathon, organized by NodeNation and strongly supported by our interview partner PurpusasG and the whole community via GeyserFund But calling it a hackathon doesn’t do it justice. 
This is a mission. 
A turning point. 
A new chapter for young people who had never been invited into the world of building technology — now becoming active creators of it.

Bitcoin Diploma Achived 

The Start of Something Bigger

After earning their Bitcoin Diploma, the most motivated students continued into the next stage:

A 7-week hackathon program, meeting once a week for four hours of coding, testing, breaking things, fixing things, learning — and, most importantly, discovering their own capability.
From these students, 14 teams were formed, each made up of teenagers aged 14–16.
Nine teachers guided them. The NodeNation team supported them.

The goal was simple: learning by doing.

And LNbits was the perfect platform for that.

Why LNbits?

  • Because LNbits is modular
  • Because its API is open
  • Because kids can build on it without running into closed walls
  • Because it is fun

LNBits Accounting Tool for the World

This year’s focus:
- LNDHub
- Split Payments

Two powerful LNbits extensions that brought life, interactivity, and creativity into every student project.

What Happened Next Surprised Everyone

Organizers expected creative projects — but nothing prepared them for the ambition, structure, and imagination these students delivered. They built tools no one expected. 
They experimented, failed, tried again, and produced results that felt like a glimpse into the future.

If you want to explore their creations, every project was submitted through a GitHub-style page — documented and organized with the same professionalism you’d expect from junior developers starting their careers. Full Project Docs

This week, at the EconomiaBitcoin Conference in Berlin (El Salvador), some of the students’ creations will be showcased with real users interacting with them for the first time.
Some projects even integrate with the LNbits Bitcoin Switch Extension, activating in-game features or real-world actions — like turning on a bubble machine via a Lightning payment. Twitter Post

The Grand Finale

Last Wednesday, all fourteen projects were judged and the winners announced:

1st Place: BlockZero – Lightning Bus
2nd Place: Cryptoghosts – SplitPayment Store Front
3rd Place: Iquenos – Multi Wallet Selector
Winner Announcement https://primal.net/e/nevent1qqsv0fxkra6gklgnvmwwd3gq9wzk2jrl7xv5jckz87hh55535jzmznsjd8jp3

Instead of trophies, the students received something far more meaningful: ESP32 boards and electronics — tools to keep building real LNbits-powered hardware.
• candy dispensers
• bubble machines
• zap-activated lamps
• automated switches
• and more

Hardware that lets ideas leave the screen and become something you can touch.

A Community That Believed in Them

To support the initiative, NodeNation launched a Geyser campaign and the community responded with overwhelming generosity.

The top three winners shared a 905,000 sats prize pool, giving them a powerful push to continue learning and experimenting.

So far, 58 supporters have contributed — helping cover essential costs and shining a spotlight on these young builders.

Support the project on Geyser.

PurpusasG said it best:

Our LNbits hackathon is fueling the next generation of Bitcoin developers.
These young graduates are diving into LNbits source code, running their own wallet servers, mastering extensions and APIs. 
Your support helps future leaders get the tools they need to succeed.

A New Generation of Builders

What began as a Bitcoin Diploma program has grown into something much bigger:

• Students who understand Bitcoin, Lightning, privacy, sovereignty
• Teenagers running LNbits instances
• Teams publishing their first open-source projects
• Young people discovering they can not only use technology — they can create it

The next generation of Bitcoin application builders is already here —
and they are extraordinary

Explore LNbits and Build Something Yourself

If this story inspired you, there’s so much more to discover in the LNbits world.
The ecosystem is full of tiny tools that unlock big ideas — perfect for beginners, builders, teachers, hackers, and anyone curious about Lightning.

  • 📦 Explore LNbits Extensions
  • 📃 Read more Articels LNbits News
  • 🚀 Spin up LNbits in seconds with our Software as a Service Solution. Click Launch to Start.
  • 📚 LNbits Wiki - Get impressions from Builders and start your next Big Idea.
  • 💜 Support the project:
 LNbits Shop — every purchase helps the ecosystem grow.
  • 🔁 Share or subscribe if this story sparked an idea.
    
The more people build, the more everyone wins.