8villages

In 2021, hosted the first-ever awards!! HackerNoon Startup of the Year The goal of this campaign was to give recognition to the hardworking startups who pulled through the pandemic -- growing and thriving (despite all of the challenges). More than 44,000 startups were nominated all across the globe! They were selected from over 4,553 cities, with a total number of * cough * “4 billion” votes. Insane, right? To see who is a winner in each respective city, visit and pick a city. The name at the top of the list is the winner. (Compromised awards are under review. Cities with tie votes will be updated to have two winners!) startups.hackernoon.com The will announce the winners per region in their respective cities. Startups Winners Announcement series Here are the winners in the : Asia region Top Startup Cities in East Asia Seoul The Startup of the Year in is with 377 votes! Seoul dable Central is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 121 votes. UpNow Central Sheung Wan came out as the Startup of the Year in with 154 votes. Votee Sheung Wan Tokyo The Startup of the Year in is with 41 votes! Tokyo ACES Wan Chai The Startup of the Year in is with 54 votes! Wan Chai Zetl Osaka, Japan In , is the winner! Osaka Nanophoton Taiwan came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Tico Taiwan Dongcheng, China In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Dongcheng Waiju Taipei came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Tico Taipei Akasaka In , is the winner! Akasaka WAKUWAKU Chuo In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Chuo GO-NET Ginza came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Netyear Ginza Kanazawa In , is the winner! Kanazawa Granzella Minami-aoyama In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Minami-aoyama Tokyo6 Entertainment Shibuya came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Hupro Japan Shibuya Toranomon In , is the winner! Toranomon Small Worlds Toshima In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Toshima Altplus Guangzhou, China came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Leyaoyao Guangzhou Hong Kong, Hong Kong In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Hong Kong Episode Six Kunming In , is the winner! Kunming Green A Sapporo In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Sapporo Polar Star Space Shirokanedai came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Nupp1 Shirokanedai Wuhan In , is the winner! Wuhan CSICEE Baoan, China In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Baoan Jumper Baoshan, China In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Baoshan Renren Games Chengdu, China came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Ju You Xi Chengdu Fujisawa, Japan In , is the winner! Fujisawa Scohia Pharma Fukuoka, Japan In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Fukuoka Kyulux Haidian, China came out as the Startup of the Year in ! 51vv Haidian Hongkou, China In , is the winner! Hongkou Kidstone Jiading, China In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Jiading IMRobotic Kawasaki, Japan came out as the Startup of the Year in ! QD Laser, Inc. Kawasaki Kyoto, Japan In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kyoto Hacarus Minato, Japan In , is the winner! Minato Visionary Fun Nagoya, Japan came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Prodrone Nagoya Ningbo, China The winner in is . Ningbo OlymTech Corporation Aomori In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Aomori Forte Japan Bandai-cho In , is the winner. Bandai-cho Delta-Fly Pharm Changchun In , the Startup of the Year is . Changchun Kaidi Animation Fuchu In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Fuchu TMS Fukuoka-shi The winner in is . Fukuoka-shi SkyDisc Fukushima In , the Startup of the Year is . Fukushima Matsuri Technologies Gotanda In , is the winner. Gotanda Basset Hachioji In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Hachioji Adriakaim Harbin The winner in is J . Harbin oining Technology Iwaki In , is the winner. Iwaki Tao Engineering Izumo In , the Startup of the Year is . Izumo PuREC Kagoshima In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kagoshima Farmers Support Kamakura In , the Startup of the Year is . Kamakura KAYAC Kami-meguro The winner in is . Kami-meguro Buzzreach Kanagawa In , is the winner. Kanagawa LoiLo Kashiwa In , the Startup of the Year is . Kashiwa Intelligent Surfaces Kita In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kita Ax Robotix Kobe The winner in is . Kobe Coconomi Koriyama In , the Startup of the Year is . Koriyama Tocoton Kumamoto In , is the winner. Kumamoto Bloom Technology Kunitachi In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kunitachi Trys Liaocheng The winner in is . Liaocheng Jinzheng Animation Minami In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Minami ATLAB Miyazaki In , is the winner. Miyazaki Caster Nagano In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Nagano Precision Forestry Nagaoka The winner in is . Nagaoka Plant Form Nihombashi-hamacho In , the Startup of the Year is . Nihombashi-hamacho Shizen Energy Niigata In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Niigata UniBio Japan Nishi-shinagawa In , is the winner. Nishi-shinagawa Play Heart Okayama In , is the winner! Okayama Arch Farm Okinawa In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Okinawa BlogNinja Otemachi In , the Startup of the Year is . Otemachi beBit, Inc Qingdao Shi In , is the winner! Qingdao Shi Manyoubang Quanzhou In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Quanzhou KungFu Animation Group Roppongi The winner in is . Roppongi Holo-X Saitama In , the Startup of the Year is . Saitama GameTector Sendai In , is the winner! Sendai Sendai Smart Machines Setagaya In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Setagaya Skyestate Shenzhen In , the Startup of the Year is . Shenzhen Aiator Shinjuku In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Shinjuku Scalar Shizuoka In , is the winner! Shizuoka PiPhotonics Sumida The winner in is . Sumida Holotch Tachikawa In , the Startup of the Year is . Tachikawa PlusOne Takamatsu In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Takamatsu Ken Robotec Tokushima In , is the winner! Tokushima DennoKotsu Toyonaka In , the Startup of the Year is . Toyonaka FISH BIOTECH Tsukuba In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Tsukuba WARPSPACE Wakayama In , the Startup of the Year is . Wakayama 4D Sensor Xiangzhou In , is the winner! Xiangzhou ALLiN Edutech Group Xianyang The winner in is . Xianyang TONLY Xiaoshan In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Xiaoshan GONGHUI Yamaguchi In , the Startup of the Year is . Yamaguchi Archis Yangpu The winner in is . Yangpu Tmxmall Yau Tsim Mong In , is the winner! Yau Tsim Mong Airnugget Yeoksamdong In , the Startup of the Year is . Yeoksamdong WizSchool Yichang In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Yichang Hubei Kento Electronic Yokohama In , is the winner! Yokohama Next Innovation Yubei In , the Startup of the Year is . Yubei Ophiux Network Yueqing The winner in is . Yueqing Yueqing Easythink Media Zhuhai In , is the winner! Zhuhai Aijuba Hongo In , the Startup of the Year is . Hongo Smile Robotics, Inc Admiralty In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Admiralty BUNCH Southern In , the Startup of the Year is . Southern Retykle Yongdungpo In , is the winner! Yongdungpo Push News Taichung In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Taichung Wondercise Cyberport, Hong Kong In , the Startup of the Year is . Cyberport Animoca Brands Hefei, China In , is the winner! Hefei Tsinglink New Territories, Hong Kong The winner in is . New Territories, Hong Kong Zeek Dezhou In , the Startup of the Year is . Dezhou Dezhou Baji Kitakyushu In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kitakyushu Reif Seongnam In , is the winner! Seongnam EOFlow Yanshi In , the Startup of the Year is . Yanshi CASI Vision Top Startup Cities in South Asia Hyderabad, India The Startup of the Year in is with 962 votes Hyderabad Quixy Lahore, Pakistan is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 186 votes. SmartWindows Lahore Bangalore, India When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year with 210 votes! Bangalore vBridge Hub Pune, India couldn’t be beaten for Startup of the Year in , it won with 129 votes! InfraCloud Pune Jaipur, India The Startup of the Year in is with 166 votes Jaipur Emizen Tech Lucknow, India is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 279 votes. Keeros Superfoods Lucknow Noida, India came out as the Startup of the Year in with 156 votes! Bagisto Noida Mumbai, India When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year with 96 votes! Mumbai Sequretek Sylhet couldn’t be beaten for Startup of the Year in , it won with 122 votes! DataXpie Sylhet Mylapore, India In , is the winner! Mylapore Yalimart Goa, India In , the Startup of the Year is Goa Filter Coffee Delhi, India In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Delhi EkAnek Networks Karachi, Pakistan The winner in is Karachi Bykea Ahmedabad, India In , is the winner Ahmedabad MageComp Dhaka, Bangladesh The winner in is Dhaka SOLshare Islamabad, Pakistan In Islamabad, is declared the Startup of the Year! TAG Gurgaon, India In , the Startup of the Year is Gurgaon ixigo Bengaluru, India In , is the winner! Bengaluru Prakshep Private Limited Haryana, India couldn’t be beaten for Startup of the Year in ! Footprints Childcare Haryana Kolkata, India In , is the winner! Kolkata Wow! Momo New Delhi, India In , is declared the Startup of the Year! New Delhi Rusk Media Indore, India The winner in is Indore Chattar Patar Kormangala In , is the winner Kormangala Sanctum Technologies Ghaziabad came out as the Startup of the Year in Craftfurnish.com Ghaziabad! Mohali In , the Startup of the Year is Mohali DataKund Mysore The Startup of the Year in is Mysore Excelsoft Karnal came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Dunar Karnal Kolhapur In , is the winner! Kolhapur Zanvar Group Patiya In , the Startup of the Year is Patiya Kloud Project Kathmandu In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kathmandu Vairav Technology Bangalore City, India In is the winner! Bangalore City, PagarBook Ernakulam The winner in is Ernakulam Epixel Solutions Colombo, Sri Lanka couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in MAs Foods Colombo Andheri, India When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Andheri DoorMint Kanpur, India came out as the Startup of the Year in ! ServiceWalaa Kanpur Faisalabad In , is the winner! Faisalabad DigiKhata Nasik The Startup of the Year in is Nasik Sahyadri Farms Patna came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Asvin Tech Patna Chennai, India In , is the winner! Chennai Agnikul Cosmos Faridabad, India In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Faridabad UClean Panjim, India The winner in is Panjim TempoGO Ranchi, India In , is the winner Ranchi Osam Dairy Surat, India In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Surat Wishbook Thane, India In , is the winner! Thane Delight Foods Trivandrum, India came out as the Startup of the Year in ! GenRobotic Trivandrum Vijayawada, India In , the Startup of the Year is Vijayawada Eruvaka Technologies Visakhapatnam, India In , Ltd is declared the Startup of the Year! Visakhapatnam Greenline Labs Pvt Ahmadabad In , is the winner! Ahmadabad KiwiQA Services Bandra came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Car Club Bandra Bombay In , is the winner! Bombay Locobuddy Mobile Technology (Sportobuddy) Cochin In , the Startup of the Year is Cochin Tuttifrutti Interactive Gandhinagar In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Gandhinagar Kroop AI Guwahati In , the Startup of the Year is Guwahati GNRC Hospitals Jamshedpur In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Jamshedpur Intelliber Kabul The winner in is Kabul Miracle Shop (Vocinno Technology) Karur In , is the winner Karur Karur Vysya Bank Kochi The winner in is Kochi BestDoc Kozhikode In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kozhikode OfficeKit HR Ludhiana In , the Startup of the Year is Ludhiana Trendy Beat Network Madhapur In , is the winner! Madhapur Head Digital Works Mangalore When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year Mangalore Hangyo Nagpur came out as the Startup of the Year in ! UPrudence Agro Nagpur Rawalpindi The Startup of the Year in is Rawalpindi Pro Options Marketing Rishikesh came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Descatuk Rishikesh Secunderabad couldn’t be beaten for Startup of the Year in Prakriti Biosystems Engineering Secunderabad Tirupur In , is the winner! Tirupur Tubeknit Fashions Udupi The winner in is Udupi Krishitantra Top Startup Cities in Southeast Asia Singapore, Singapore The Startup of the Year in is with 6556 votes! Singapore Cake DeFi Hanoi, Vietnam is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 683 votes. DeFi For You Hanoi Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia came out as the Startup of the Year in with 109 votes! Trambellir Kuala Lumpur Pasig, Philippines When it comes to , . is the Startup of the Year with 110 votes! Pasig Quickreach Inc Bangkok, Thailand couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in , it won with 60 votes! Perception Codes Bangkok Johor Bahru In , the Startup of the Year is . Johor Bahru AGR1 Bandung, Indonesia In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Bandung Prosa Portugal The winner in is . Portugal SCEMAI Tangerang, Indonesia In , is the winner Tangerang Yummy Corp Jakarta, Indonesia In , is the winner! Jakarta Tokocrypto Dki Jakarta, Indonesia In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Dki Jakarta Limakilo Bangkok Metropolis In , is the winner! Bangkok Meticuly Medan The winner in is ! Medan DIKA Manila, Philippines In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Manila PawnHero Phnom Penh, Cambodia In , the Startup of the Year is Phnom Penh vKirirom Bali In , is the winner! Bali Radius App Penang When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year Penang EasyParcel Surabaya came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Super Surabaya Setiabudi, Indonesia The Startup of the Year in is Setiabudi Chilibeli Cebu City came out as the Startup of the Year in MiCab Cebu City! Jawa couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in DAUR Jawa Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam In , is the winner! Ho Chi Minh City Pharmacity Selangor, Malaysia is the Startup of the Year! BabyDash Selangor Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia In , is the winner! Jakarta Pusat StickEarn Semarang When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Semarang Food Bear Petaling Jaya, Malaysia The winner in is . Petaling Jaya Deemples Kebayoran Baru, Indonesia couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! Yogrt Kebayoran Baru Kuningan The winner in is . Kuningan Prinzio Bukit Merah came out as the Startup of the Year in ! DC Alliance Bukit Merah Huai Khwang In , the Startup of the Year is . Huai Khwang AppMan Co.,Ltd Kuta In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kuta Gringgo Mandaluyong came out ahead as the Startup of the Year! Work Inspire Mandaluyong Midview City In , is the winner! Midview City BioMers Phuket The Startup of the Year in is ! Phuket Sapahn Yangon, Myanmar The winner in is . Yangon Wave Money Denpasar When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Denpasar Revasi Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand The winner in is . Nakhon Ratchasima Siam Lottery co., Ltd Taguig, Philippines In , is the winner! Taguig PayMongo Bogor came out as the Startup of the Year in ! TIRANYX Bogor Senai, Malaysia won as the Startup of the Year. Nutrition Technologies Senai Bekasi Kota couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! 8villages Bekasi Kota Top Startup Cities in Middle East Tel Aviv, Israel The Startup of the Year in is with 1,065 votes! Tel Aviv hyro Beirut, Lebanon is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 1,276 votes. Hovi Digital Lab Beirut Riyadh, Saudi Arabia With 350 votes, came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Flicron Riyadh Tel Aviv-yafo, Israel When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year with 167 votes! Tel Aviv-yafo Cymbio Haifa, Israel couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in , it won with 183 votes! Pico Haifa Amman, Jordan In , with 141 votes, is the winner! Amman Edexy Dubai, United Arab Emirates In , the Startup of the Year is with 74 votes. Dubai Ziina Doha, Qatar In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Doha SkipCash Tehran, Iran The winner in is . BeyondBoard AR Tehran Jerusalem, Israel In , is the winner! Jerusalem SolidBlock Rishon Le Zion The Startup of the Year in is ! Rishon Le Zion Passparto Ness Ziona, Israel is the Startup of the Year! Soapy Ness Ziona Kuwait, Kuwait came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Brapper Shop Kuwait Manama, Bahrain couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! Doctori Manama Lod, Israel is the winner in ! Phinergy Lod Agudat Israel, Israel When it comes to is the Startup of the Year with [vote ] votes! Agudat Israel, Aqaurius Engines Beersheba, Israel In , the Startup of the Year is . Beersheba Visual Estate Ltd Giv'atayim, Israel In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Giv'atayim WSC Sports Modi'in, Israel The winner in is . Modi'in Loginno Nazareth, Israel In , is the winner! Nazareth AR Guide In Medical Ramat Gan, Israel The Startup of the Year in is . Ramat Gan Datos Health Baghdad When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Baghdad Mishwar Khobar In , the Startup of the Year is . Khobar Garage Misgav couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! Eden Shield Misgav Sharjah came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Bookends Sharjah Affula In , the Startup of the Year is . Affula eMotion Technologies Bene Beraq, Israel In , is the winner Bene Beraq Reflectiz Caesarea, Israel In , the Startup of the Year is . Caesarea CardiacSense Dubayy In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Dubayy North Ladder Muscat couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! iLab Marine Muscat Tirat Carmel In , the Startup of the Year is . Tirat Carmel PassCall Advanced Technologies Hod Hasharon, Israel The winner in is . Hod Hasharon Idomoo Holon, Israel came out ahead as the Startup of the Year! OptimalPlus Holon Jeddah, Saudi Arabia When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Jeddah Arabian Combustion Technologies Ramat Hasharon, Israel is the Startup of the Year! Lumen Ramat Hasharon Al Khobar came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Swyft Al Khobar Bet Shemesh In , is the winner! Bet Shemesh Degania Medical Binyamina When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Binyamina OncoHost Makkah In , the Startup of the Year is Makkah Scimagine Or Akiva Last but not least, couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in the city of ! WMT Or Akiva More Information: If you’re a winner, please answer ! If you’re a reader, participant, just a curious individual, consider answering one of our interviews . this interview here Read the FAQs about or . Startups here here To see all of the winners you may visit , pick any city and view the name that appears at the top. this site If you’re interested in partnering with us, we invite you to look through some of these or reach out to our business department. unique sponsorship options Perhaps creating your very own tickles your fancy or maybe you have a whole new idea for how we can partner! writing contest Thank you to all of our sponsors! We truly appreciate your contribution to the tech world and thus the future! The Startups Awards are sponsored by: , , , , , , , , , , Blockster Brex FreeCodeCamp LaunchDarkly Coil Udacity Udemy Vercel Asia Pacific Transgender Network Bybit Everscale Network The post was written by Kushal Tamrakar and Valerie Ejegi, edited by Hang Ngo. If you have any questions or concerns or would like to report a discrepancy please email ellen@hackernoon.com.

Meet the Winners of Startups in Asia

The Death of Whimsy? Or the Birth of a New Storytelling Era? The Death of Whimsy? Or the Birth of a New Storytelling Era? Not long ago, ChatGPT’s image feed was practically a mood board for Studio Ghibli fans. Prompt after prompt delivered serene villages, floating forests, and sun-drenched scenes that looked like they belonged in Spirited Away or My Neighbor Totoro. If you use social media, you would know it.Every AI-generated image came with that cozy, melancholic charm. Spirited Away My Neighbor Totoro That aesthetic has been bubble-wrapped and shelved - literally. ChatGPT’s creative culture has taken a sharp U-turn, and users are now obsessed with something very different: action figures. Stylized, blister-packaged, hyper-personalized virtual collectibles that look like they just came off the shelf at a futuristic toy store - but instead of superheroes or soldiers, they feature… you. Or your coworker. Or your startup’s intern with a bubble tea and an Excel sheet. you The Ghibli era was soft and wistful. The Action Figure era is bold, meta, and absurdly fun. So what changed? The Ghibli Phase: Why It Hit So Hard The Ghibli Phase: Why It Hit So Hard AI-generated Ghibli-style images exploded for a reason. They offered nostalgia wrapped in beauty — a digital escape into simpler times, softer moods, and stories that didn’t scream at you. People loved generating dream cafés, floating gardens, and ghostly train rides with Ghibli-esque lighting and brushstrokes. The AI models were good at it. Really good.And let's be honest - after years of post-pandemic chaos and relentless tech churn, we all needed a breather. Ghibli-style art was that breather.But trends, especially in the AI world, don’t stay still for long. nostalgia wrapped in beauty Rise of the Plastic Era: The Action Figure Takeover Rise of the Plastic Era: The Action Figure Takeover It started innocently enough. Someone used ChatGPT and DALL·E to mock up a colleague as a boxed action figure, complete with props (usually food or tech gear), a plastic window, and ironic taglines like “Deploys Code & Cold Brew” or“Comes with Emotional Support Mug.” Then… it went viral. Suddenly, timelines were filled with: Tech teams as collectible sets
AI influencers in blister packs
“Startup Founders” with hoverboards and anxiety
HR reps holding PTO forms and gold stars Tech teams as collectible sets AI influencers in blister packs “Startup Founders” with hoverboards and anxiety HR reps holding PTO forms and gold stars The aesthetic was intentionally over-the-top — equal parts meme, merch, and art. But what made it stick? It was personal, shareable, and just self-aware enough to be hilarious. personal shareable Why the Trend Shifted So Fast Why the Trend Shifted So Fast This isn’t just about style — it’s about psychology and culture. This isn’t just about style — it’s about psychology and culture. Hyper-Personalization > Escapism
Ghibli-style images let us escape the world.
Action figures let us mock it - and ourselves - in the process. We’re tired of fantasy.We want something that reflects reality, but stylized and should look as if shelf-ready.

Toys Tell Micro-Stories
An action figure doesn’t just look like someone — it tells a quick story about who they are. From props to poses, it’s like a bio in blister-pack form.


Content Creators & Teams Love It
Creators started using them for brand storytelling, podcast promos, and merch ideas. Tech teams began gifting them to teammates or using them as ice-breakers at conferences. And let’s be real: nothing beats turning your Product Manager into a pocket-sized legend holding Jira tickets.


It’s Fast, Fun, and Weirdly Wholesome
The barrier to entry is low. All you need is a prompt. The result? A perfectly packaged mini-version of you or your squad that feels both ironic and oddly endearing. Hyper-Personalization > Escapism
Ghibli-style images let us escape the world.
Action figures let us mock it - and ourselves - in the process. We’re tired of fantasy.We want something that reflects reality, but stylized and should look as if shelf-ready. Hyper-Personalization > Escapism Hyper-Personalization > Escapism Ghibli-style images let us escape the world. Action figures let us mock it - and ourselves - in the process. We’re tired of fantasy. We want something that reflects reality, but stylized and should look as if shelf-ready. Toys Tell Micro-Stories
An action figure doesn’t just look like someone — it tells a quick story about who they are. From props to poses, it’s like a bio in blister-pack form. Toys Tell Micro-Stories Toys Tell Micro-Stories An action figure doesn’t just look like someone — it tells a quick story about who they are. From props to poses, it’s like a bio in blister-pack form. look Content Creators & Teams Love It
Creators started using them for brand storytelling, podcast promos, and merch ideas. Tech teams began gifting them to teammates or using them as ice-breakers at conferences. And let’s be real: nothing beats turning your Product Manager into a pocket-sized legend holding Jira tickets. Content Creators & Teams Love It Content Creators & Teams Love It Creators started using them for brand storytelling, podcast promos, and merch ideas. Tech teams began gifting them to teammates or using them as ice-breakers at conferences. And let’s be real: nothing beats turning your Product Manager into a pocket-sized legend holding Jira tickets. It’s Fast, Fun, and Weirdly Wholesome
The barrier to entry is low. All you need is a prompt. The result? A perfectly packaged mini-version of you or your squad that feels both ironic and oddly endearing. It’s Fast, Fun, and Weirdly Wholesome It’s Fast, Fun, and Weirdly Wholesome The barrier to entry is low. All you need is a prompt. The result? A perfectly packaged mini-version of you or your squad that feels both ironic and oddly endearing. Ghibli Isn’t Dead — It Just Grew Up Ghibli Isn’t Dead — It Just Grew Up Here’s the kicker: this isn’t really a death of the Ghibli trend. It’s a mutation. The same people who once created quiet, dreamy forests are now making action figures of themselves. Or turning Totoro into a corporate mascot with a lanyard and a matcha latte. The aesthetic remains — but the vibe has shifted from soft escapism to meta self-insertion. meta self-insertion It’s no longer “look at this beautiful world.” It’s “put me in the box — and give me a snack accessory while you’re at it.” The Bigger Picture: What This Tells Us About AI-Driven Culture The Bigger Picture: What This Tells Us About AI-Driven Culture This trend is more than just another viral prompt. It reflects a cultural shift in how we use AI - not just to dream, but to play. This trend is more than just another viral prompt It reflects a cultural shift in how we use AI - not just to dream, but to play. We’ve moved past marveling at the tech. Now, we’re using it as a mirror, a joke, a flex, and a form of creative control.Once upon a prompt, we asked ChatGPT to give us worlds that felt like dreams - soft, nostalgic, watercolor escapes inspired by Ghibli. And it delivered. But in true internet fashion, we got bored of dreams.So we gave those dreams name tags, tiny accessories, and plastic packaging. And just like that - we became the story! This isn’t the death of imagination. It’s the evolution of it.We’ve moved from floating spirits to blister-packed selves, from wistful wonderlands to "Deploys Solutions & Snacks™" energy. "Deploys Solutions & Snacks™" And maybe that’s the most 2025 thing ever:Not just watching magic from afar - but packaging it, posting it, and owning it like limited-edition drops of our own identities. Ghibli walked so we could stand on the shelf. And this time, we come with accessories. Ghibli walked so we could stand on the shelf. And this time, we come with accessories.

The Internet Is Already Moving On From The Ghibli Craze to Something Different

The Lost Dream of a Free Internet & How Spacecoin is Reviving it

Can a Decentralized Internet Make Free Speech and Global Access a Reality?

Have you heard of the Bitcoin mining hash rate? It is a measure of how much electrical energy is being used to mine Bitcoin/BTC. To most Bitcoiners, this energy is stranded energy. So mining is like a free-energy seeker - finding new energy sources, trapping, and channeling it into a profitable process. Enough to make renewable energy profitable without government subsidies. Finally. But there could be more to the story. Humans could be using that energy during mining, not machines. I want to give as much machine power as possible, back to humans. Return of the Human Computers You have heard Tradfi reporters say “Bitcoin is consuming as much energy as country X.” And on checking that country, be it the Netherlands or Argentina, has millions of people. This is actually great news. This means, at its most efficient (and least corruptible from human influence), Bitcoin mining could be hiring millions of people! Perhaps as human computers running hashes. It is a hypothetical. Of course, human computers are slow. But let's crunch their numbers. From this site, we see that. time = difficulty * 2**32 / hashrate If time = 600s (10 minutes), and difficulty = 1 (the lowest possible), then the lowest allowable human hashrate = 7.2 million hashes per second. Remember Ken Shirriff's blog? Well, he estimates a human could do approximately 0.67 hashes per day if they don't slack off. But we need at least 7.2 million hashes every 10 minutes! Dang. 0.67 hashes/day = 0.67 hashes/(24 * 6) = 0.004 hashes every 10 minutes per person. No. of employees needed = 7.2 million / 0.004 = 1.8 quadrillion people. Yup, Elon was right. Time to produce more babies. The solution, obviously, is to keep the machines on the hashing but to agree, somehow, to get the difficulty lower. To agree as a group of Bitcoiners to bring more humanity to the Bitcoin mining process. Instil more trust into the ecosystem. Without Communism. So that the mining hashrate can be reduced instead of soaring to ridiculous heights, like Icarus. Otherwise, in a nearly zero-trust world, a.k.a Mad Max, your Bitcoin Miner will be stolen. Your node and your seed signer too. That world will be rotten. *** Bitcoin maxis do not think lowering the difficulty is good. But in this speculative fiction, it is good. There are two ways to lower Bitcoin’s difficulty: Arrest plebs and ban Bitcoin mining in your country. Not good. Give freely some of the miner power to locals who dearly need a helping hand out of energy poverty. Very good. To focus more on 2, you have heard how companies like Gridless in Kenya have brought electricity to the surrounding villages, giving hope and excitement for the future to its people. This is the way. It is way better than turning humans into literal hashing machines. Now Gridless could have decided to consume all their electrical energy for themselves and their machines. Literally, nothing was stopping them. But those extra dollars from that little extra hashing oomph wouldn’t have been worth it. So, should more mining companies set up shop in the poorer parts of the world? You got it. And they should do it like their ancestors. Those good ol’ missionaries. We Need to Print Bitcoin Nodes The first time white people came to Uganda, they wanted to find the source of the River Nile. Later, they spread the gospel of the Lord Jesus, and somehow, eventually became colonizers. This happened a while ago, so Africa at large is no longer a dark continent. All opportunities seem pretty occupied. When the white missionaries came to Uganda, they brought us Bibles and eventually left us to keep spreading the gospel on our own. But printing more copies of the Bible so anybody can have personalized access is easy-peasy work, figured out many hundreds of years ago with the Gutenberg press. Printing Bitcoin nodes for every individual is harder work. The biggest problem, of course, is just how inaccessible Bitcoin nodes are as a technology. Circa 2024, printing a copy of a book is something that can be done easily by devices called printers. Like money printers, book printers will one day be old technology for a world where all laws were written in books. Including the laws of money. Bitcoin is different as all the laws that govern it are completely embedded inside its digital world. Moreover, making a copy of them onto books doesn't help. That's not how Bitcoin processes its monetary policy. Bitcoin's rules aren't for us humans, strange as that may seem, but they are for Bitcoin! In books like Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, gigantic money compilers can print things like Bitcoin nodes cheaply. But that is a fictional world with an abundance impossible in our reality. For the things that print Bitcoin nodes in our world are called companies, and they suck up a ton of resources, and take months to process this material through their industries with people called corporate employees efficiently and effectively guiding the work of factory employees who also guide robots and automated algorithms and machines of all kinds to get the work done. Eventually, multiple, fairly identical nodes are printed. But given how laborious the process is, the profit margins are usually so tight that the only way to make the idea viable is to go at scale. Which makes it even more expensive to print copies of nodes. What's worse, there is no religious fervor to drive massive human desire towards it. Not that I'd want any. The only fervor available is greed, but nobody would risk their skin for Bitcoin. Not yet anyway. The incentives are thus very minimal and the poor locals awaiting a node have to suffer. Because they want a free lunch, but this is a very expensive first-class golden egg lunch. How can it be free? What to do? Work hard and gift them nodes. It is the highest form of voluntaryism ever. *** 2140 Circa 2140, There will be no more mining rewards. The last Sat will have been mined. The hashrate will plummet. Many miners will pack their bags and go home. Leave thousands upon thousands of ASICS in mega mining farms, to rust. Then they’ll wonder why they chased the bag for 100 years with little to no humane-ity to show for it. Meanwhile, in another country, they had put their cards on building a community around mining. The ASICS keeps running. Profitably at that. Bitcoin mining is how these people vote important decisions into the blockchain. Decisions are signed as Bitcoin transactions. Bitcoin is what people use to trade and negotiate contracts. Bitcoin is great. It is the same Bitcoin as in the first group. Alas, it is way more decentralized. So much so that the two places have different prices and needs for it. As it should be. [Feature Image: Human Computers during America’s Space Age] Have you heard of the Bitcoin mining hash rate? It is a measure of how much electrical energy is being used to mine Bitcoin/BTC. To most Bitcoiners, this energy is stranded energy. So mining is like a free-energy seeker - finding new energy sources, trapping, and channeling it into a profitable process. Enough to make renewable energy profitable without government subsidies. Finally. But there could be more to the story. Humans could be using that energy during mining, not machines. I want to give as much machine power as possible, back to humans. Return of the Human Computers You have heard Tradfi reporters say “Bitcoin is consuming as much energy as country X.” And on checking that country, be it the Netherlands or Argentina, has millions of people. This is actually great news. This means, at its most efficient (and least corruptible from human influence), Bitcoin mining could be hiring millions of people! Perhaps as human computers running hashes. It is a hypothetical. Of course, human computers are slow. But let's crunch their numbers. From this site , we see that. this site time = difficulty * 2**32 / hashrate time = difficulty * 2**32 / hashrate If time = 600s (10 minutes), and difficulty = 1 (the lowest possible), then the lowest allowable human hashrate = 7.2 million hashes per second. Remember Ken Shirriff's blog? Well, he estimates a human could do approximately 0.67 hashes per day if they don't slack off. But we need at least 7.2 million hashes every 10 minutes! Dang. 0.67 hashes/day = 0.67 hashes/(24 * 6) = 0.004 hashes every 10 minutes per person. No. of employees needed = 7.2 million / 0.004 = 1.8 quadrillion people. 1.8 quadrillion people. Yup, Elon was right. Time to produce more babies. The solution, obviously, is to keep the machines on the hashing but to agree, somehow, to get the difficulty lower. To agree as a group of Bitcoiners to bring more humanity to the Bitcoin mining process. Instil more trust into the ecosystem. Without Communism. So that the mining hashrate can be reduced instead of soaring to ridiculous heights, like Icarus. Otherwise, in a nearly zero-trust world, a.k.a Mad Max, your Bitcoin Miner will be stolen. Your node and your seed signer too. That world will be rotten. *** Bitcoin maxis do not think lowering the difficulty is good. But in this speculative fiction, it is good. There are two ways to lower Bitcoin’s difficulty: Arrest plebs and ban Bitcoin mining in your country. Not good. Arrest plebs and ban Bitcoin mining in your country. Not good. Give freely some of the miner power to locals who dearly need a helping hand out of energy poverty. Very good. To focus more on 2, you have heard how companies like Gridless in Kenya have brought electricity to the surrounding villages, giving hope and excitement for the future to its people. This is the way. It is way better than turning humans into literal hashing machines. Now Gridless could have decided to consume all their electrical energy for themselves and their machines. Literally, nothing was stopping them. But those extra dollars from that little extra hashing oomph wouldn’t have been worth it. So, should more mining companies set up shop in the poorer parts of the world? You got it. And they should do it like their ancestors. Those good ol’ missionaries. We Need to Print Bitcoin Nodes We Need to Print Bitcoin Nodes The first time white people came to Uganda, they wanted to find the source of the River Nile. Later, they spread the gospel of the Lord Jesus, and somehow, eventually became colonizers. This happened a while ago, so Africa at large is no longer a dark continent. All opportunities seem pretty occupied. When the white missionaries came to Uganda, they brought us Bibles and eventually left us to keep spreading the gospel on our own. But printing more copies of the Bible so anybody can have personalized access is easy-peasy work, figured out many hundreds of years ago with the Gutenberg press. Printing Bitcoin nodes for every individual is harder work. The biggest problem, of course, is just how inaccessible Bitcoin nodes are as a technology. Circa 2024, printing a copy of a book is something that can be done easily by devices called printers. Like money printers, book printers will one day be old technology for a world where all laws were written in books. Including the laws of money. Bitcoin is different as all the laws that govern it are completely embedded inside its digital world. Moreover, making a copy of them onto books doesn't help. That's not how Bitcoin processes its monetary policy. Bitcoin's rules aren't for us humans, strange as that may seem, but they are for Bitcoin! In books like Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, gigantic money compilers can print things like Bitcoin nodes cheaply. But that is a fictional world with an abundance impossible in our reality. For the things that print Bitcoin nodes in our world are called companies, and they suck up a ton of resources, and take months to process this material through their industries with people called corporate employees efficiently and effectively guiding the work of factory employees who also guide robots and automated algorithms and machines of all kinds to get the work done. Eventually, multiple, fairly identical nodes are printed. But given how laborious the process is, the profit margins are usually so tight that the only way to make the idea viable is to go at scale. Which makes it even more expensive to print copies of nodes. What's worse, there is no religious fervor to drive massive human desire towards it. Not that I'd want any. The only fervor available is greed, but nobody would risk their skin for Bitcoin. Not yet anyway. The incentives are thus very minimal and the poor locals awaiting a node have to suffer. Because they want a free lunch, but this is a very expensive first-class golden egg lunch. How can it be free? What to do? Work hard and gift them nodes. It is the highest form of voluntaryism ever. *** 2140 Circa 2140, There will be no more mining rewards. The last Sat will have been mined. The hashrate will plummet. Many miners will pack their bags and go home. Leave thousands upon thousands of ASICS in mega mining farms, to rust. Then they’ll wonder why they chased the bag for 100 years with little to no humane-ity to show for it. Meanwhile, in another country, they had put their cards on building a community around mining. The ASICS keeps running. Profitably at that. Bitcoin mining is how these people vote important decisions into the blockchain. Decisions are signed as Bitcoin transactions. Bitcoin is what people use to trade and negotiate contracts. Bitcoin is great. It is the same Bitcoin as in the first group. Alas, it is way more decentralized. So much so that the two places have different prices and needs for it. As it should be. [Feature Image: Human Computers during America’s Space Age]

Adding More Humanity to the Bitcoin Mining Process 

5 New Crypto Countries in Progress: A Decentralized Future?

5 دول تشفيرية جديدة قيد التقدم: مستقبل لامركزي؟

৫টি নতুন ক্রিপ্টো দেশ অগ্রগতির পথে: একটি বিকেন্দ্রীভূত ভবিষ্যত?

5 nuevos países criptográficos en desarrollo: ¿Un futuro descentralizado?

5 کشور رمزنگاری جدید در حال پیشرفت: آینده ای غیرمتمرکز؟

5 Nouvo Peyi Crypto an Pwogrè: Yon Avni Desantralize?

5 nuovi paesi basati sulle criptovalute: un futuro decentralizzato?

進行中の 5 つの新しい暗号通貨国家: 分散化された未来?

5 жаңы крипто өлкөсү өнүгүүдө: борбордон ажыратылган келечек?

5 naujos vykdomos kriptovaliutos šalys: decentralizuota ateitis?

Firenena 5 Crypto Vaovao an-dalam-pandrosoana: Hoavy voatokana?

5 Musuq Cripto Llaqtakuna puririchkanku: ¿Huk Hamuq Descentralizado?

Nyika 5 Nyowani dzeCrypto dziri Kufambira mberi: Ramangwana Rakarongwa?

Zuzalu’s Crypto Nomads Are Thinking About Settling Down—And That Might Be Their Biggest Mistake

Los criptonómadas de Zuzalu están pensando en establecerse y ese podría ser su mayor error

نومادهای کریپتو زوزالو به فکر حل شدن هستند — و این ممکن است بزرگترین اشتباه آنها باشد

ズザルの暗号通貨遊牧民は定住を考えているが、それが最大の間違いかもしれない

Зузалунун крипто көчмөндөрү отурукташуу жөнүндө ойлонуп жатышат — бул алардын эң чоң катасы болушу мүмкүн

जुजालुका क्रिप्टो घुमन्तेहरू बसोबास गर्ने बारे सोचिरहेका छन्—र त्यो उनीहरूको सबैभन्दा ठूलो गल्ती हुन सक्छ।

Zuzalu’s Crypto Nomads nisqakunan yuyaykushanku tiyanankupaq —chaytaqmi kanman aswan hatun pantasqanku

Abanyenduga ba Crypto ba Zuzalu Batekereza Gutura-Kandi Ibyo Birashobora kuba Ikosa Rikomeye

Nomadët Crypto të Zuzalu po mendojnë të qetësohen - dhe ky mund të jetë gabimi i tyre më i madh

Номадҳои крипто Зузалу дар бораи ҷойгир шудан фикр мекунанд - ва ин метавонад хатогии бузургтарини онҳо бошад

Crypto Nomads ของ Zuzalu กำลังคิดที่จะลงหลักปักฐาน—และนั่นอาจเป็นความผิดพลาดครั้งใหญ่ที่สุดของพวกเขา

Zuzalunyň kripto göçmenleri mesgen tutmak barada pikir edýärler we bu olaryň iň uly ýalňyşlygy bolup biler

زوزالو کے کرپٹو خانہ بدوش آباد ہونے کے بارے میں سوچ رہے ہیں — اور یہ ان کی سب سے بڑی غلطی ہو سکتی ہے۔

What Capitalists Got Wrong About the 'Future of Education,' And What They Should Have Done Instead

Τι έκαναν λάθος οι καπιταλιστές σχετικά με το «μέλλον της εκπαίδευσης» και τι έπρεπε να κάνουν αντ 'αυτού

Lo que los capitalistas se equivocaron sobre el «futuro de la educación» y lo que deberían haber hecho en su lugar

Što su kapitalisti pogriješili u vezi s 'budućnošću obrazovanja' i što su trebali učiniti umjesto toga

Ki sa kapitalis yo te fè mal sou 'lavni edikasyon an,' ak sa yo ta dwe fè pito

資本家が「教育の未来」について何を間違えたのか、そして代わりに何をすべきだったのか

«Білім берудің болашағы» туралы капиталистер не қателесті және оның орнына не істеу керек еді

Ką kapitalistai suklydo dėl „švietimo ateities“ ir ką jie turėjo padaryti vietoj to

Капиталистууд "боловсролын ирээдүй"-ийн талаар юу буруу хийсэн бэ, үүний оронд юу хийх ёстой байсан бэ?

Imakunatan Kapitalistakuna pantarqanku ‘Educacionpa hamuq pachanmanta’, hinallataq imakunatan ruwananku karqan chaypa rantinpi

Ce au greșit capitaliștii cu privire la „viitorul educației” și ce ar fi trebuit să facă ei în schimb

ርእሰማላውያን ብዛዕባ ‘መጻኢ ትምህርቲ’ እንታይ ተጋግዮም፡ ኣብ ክንድኡ ድማ እንታይ ክገብሩ ነይርዎም

Kapitalistlar "Ta'lim kelajagi" haqida nima xato qilishdi va ular o'rniga nima qilishlari kerak edi

Nature + Biomimicry + Bitcoin: Mutually Beneficial Partnership

Naturaleza + Biomimetismo + Bitcoin: una alianza mutuamente beneficiosa

Luonto + Biomimikri + Bitcoin: molemminpuolisesti hyödyllinen kumppanuus

प्रकृति + बायोमिमिक्री + बिटकॉइन: पारस्परिक रूप से लाभकारी साझेदारी

Nature + Biomimicry + Bitcoin. փոխշահավետ գործընկերություն

自然 + バイオミミクリー + ビットコイン: 相互に利益のあるパートナーシップ

Nature + Biomimicry + Bitcoin: ორმხრივად მომგებიანი პარტნიორობა

ធម្មជាតិ + Biomimicry + Bitcoin៖ ភាពជាដៃគូដែលមានអត្ថប្រយោជន៍ទៅវិញទៅមក

Natiora + Biomimicry + Bitcoin: Fiaraha-miombon'antoka

Masikirwo + Biomimicry + Bitcoin: Kudyidzana Kunobatsira Kudyidzana

Природа + биомимикрија + биткоин: обострано корисно партнерство

இயற்கை + பயோமிமிக்ரி + பிட்காயின்: பரஸ்பர நன்மை பயக்கும் கூட்டாண்மை

Tabiat + Biomimicry + Bitcoin: O'zaro manfaatli hamkorlik

Is Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare a Ticking Time Bomb or Timely Solution?

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