Electronics, cryptography & code. I'm 18, based in India. Self-taught builder with a deep interest in hardware and crypto systems.
I don't use crypto. I build the infrastructure behind it.
if it runs on a $3 chip and handles private keys — I want to build it.
I'm Gaurav Sharma, 18, Lucknow. Just finished Class 12. I've been teaching myself to code and solder for about two years.
Got into Crypto Twitter in 2022. Not the trading side. I wanted to understand how wallets derive keys, how signing actually works at the byte level. That rabbit hole took me from reading the BIP39 spec to writing C++ firmware on an ESP32.
Most of my time goes into C++ on microcontrollers. Managing encrypted flash storage, driving OLEDs over I2C, running key derivation on a chip with 520KB of RAM. I also write Python for tooling and JS for web interfaces that talk to hardware over Web Serial.
Right now I'm adding tamper detection and auto-lock to the ESP32 Vault. After that, probably Nostr key storage or a standalone message signer.
Custom L1 blockchain built from scratch in Rust. HotStuff BFT consensus across 3 deployed validators. Real P2P networking, live block explorer, web wallet and faucet.
✓ 5800+ blocks produced. Still running.
Air-gapped hardware wallet on a $3 ESP32. The seed is AES-256 encrypted with a key derived from the chip's eFuse MAC — dump the flash all you want, it's useless without the physical chip. All firmware written from scratch: BIP32/BIP39 key derivation, secp256k1 signing, OLED interface.
✓ Private keys never leave the device.
Turn any Android phone into a wireless 128×128 display for ESP32 over BLE. The phone app is a dumb renderer — it never needs updating. Only the ESP32 code changes to control what's displayed. Custom bitmap protocol sends raw 4-bit packed frames for smooth animation.
✓ Phone never needs updating. ESP32 controls everything.
Internships, collaborations, interesting projects — I'm open to it. Drop me an email or reach out on X.
