§ 03 · About Operator since age ten

Mostafa Mahdi — self-taught since ten. Shipping since seventeen.

Computer-science student at the University of Copenhagen, self-taught security researcher since childhood, and someone who has never been able to leave a system alone once I start wondering how it works. The work spans reverse engineering, Web3 infrastructure, atmospheric simulation, firmware disassembly, and biotech.

Mostafa Mahdi
MM · Mostafa Mahdi 22 / 2004 · CPH

I was born 7 April 2004, in Denmark. I wrote my first script and earned my first Bitcoin at 10. At 15 I was reverse-engineering e-commerce APIs across four countries and bypassing SSL pinning on mobile apps. At 16 I disclosed a critical vulnerability in the Danish national railway. At 17 I wrote RSA from scratch with Miller–Rabin in Java for a school project. At 20 I shipped the first non-custodial MPC wallet for an entire blockchain network. At 22 I'm reverse-engineering VxWorks firmware on cellular modems and running Monte Carlo atmospheric simulations.

The throughline isn't any particular technology. It's an instinct: refuse the wrapper. Whatever the system tells you about itself — its docs, its spec sheet, its README — don't accept it. Reach past and check.

§ The arc

Same person. Same instinct. Just harder problems every year.

§ Chapters

The places this instinct has shown up professionally.

  1. § 01
    Halo Terminal 2024 – 2025 Founding Web3 Engineer · Security Lead

    Architected and built the first non-custodial MPC wallet for the Kaspa network — a UTXO-based BlockDAG where most threshold-signature libraries assume an account-based model. Multi-chain from the UTXO base, distributed inside a Telegram Mini App, with a high-performance Twitter scraper (sub-70ms tweet extraction) feeding a RAG-based market-sentiment dashboard alongside it. Reverse-engineered competitor wallets to inform product strategy. The technical work was the most demanding I've done in Web3 — UTXO MPC is a genuinely unsolved problem at the standards level.

  2. § 02
    Grindery Wallet 2024 · 3 months Information Security Analyst · Singapore (remote)

    Continuous security audits across the platform — surfaced supply-chain attacks, XSS exploits, exposed API keys, and a bug that allowed arbitrary database parameter changes. Demonstrated realistic attack paths including BGP route hijacking and clickjacking, and identified critical flaws in the reward system. Proposed and helped roll out Proof-of-Work-based abuse prevention, robust cryptographic key management, reduced third-party dependency footprint, and a hardened security posture without sacrificing product agility.

  3. § 03
    Padborg Inn 2020 – Present Technology & Operations Manager

    A hotel I helped renovate from the ground up. Architected the full network stack — WiFi 7 with cellular failover, IoT-integrated smart climate control, enterprise-grade segmentation. Engineered a custom management system and competitive-intelligence scrapers that drive dynamic pricing and occupancy optimization. Directed the facility's full digital transformation; the technology stack runs the business now.

  4. § 04
    ProCyanol 2024 – Present · Founder Biotech · Procyanidin B2 hair regrowth

    Founded ProCyanol to bring scientifically-backed Procyanidin B2 hair-regrowth treatments to market through custom synthesis methods. R&D collaborations with cosmetic formulation experts in Denmark and Korea. First manufacturing run preparing for late 2026.

  5. § 05
    Viaplay Group Sep 2025 – Apr 2026 · Advisory Advisory Board Member

    Strategic guidance on content development, platform features, and user experience for one of Northern Europe's largest streaming groups. Worked directly with the Editor-in-Chief on content strategy. Delivered actionable feedback that produced concrete platform changes — upgraded recommendation algorithm, refined personalization, reduced over-indexing on reality formats. Insights on market trends informing 2026 content investment decisions.

  6. § 06
    Forbes Legacy Pass 2020 – Lifetime Original holder

    One of a select few. When Forbes quietly sunset the Legacy Pass, only original pass-holders kept their seat at the table — lifetime access to Forbes' private founder network of operators, investors, and builders worldwide.

§ Tools I actually use
IDEJetBrains · Xcode · Cursor
REGhidra · IDA · JADX · JD-GUI
LanguagesTypeScript · Rust · Python · Java · Swift · C#
BackendNode.js · Express · MongoDB · Cloudflare Workers
FrontendReact · Astro · Tailwind · Three.js
CryptoMPC · UTXO · ECDSA · RSA · Miller–Rabin
Sim / sciMonte Carlo · radiative transfer · OPAC · HITRAN
HardwareVxWorks · ARM baseband · WiFi 7 · IoT
§ 02 / CREDENTIALS

xPRO Certified Full-Stack Developer focused on Web3

Google
Cybersecurity Professional
Jan 2026
ISC2
Candidate
Dec 2024
Danish Defence Intelligence (FE)
CTF · 3rd regional · top-20 national
2024
Forbes
Legacy Pass — original holder
Lifetime
§ 05 / ON THE RECORD

What people who've actually worked with me say.

I've known Mostafa for a few years and have never come across another individual who is as talented — not only within the security space, but within the tech sector in general. You can throw any problem at him, no matter how great, and he won't stop until he's found a solution, even if others give up.
Ibraheem Chughtai Technology Consultant · Retail Reply
Mostafa is one of the most insightful and original thinkers I've had the chance to work with. Rather than relying on familiar solutions, he takes the time to understand the real problem, question assumptions, and design approaches that are both creative and highly practical.
Sumesh Deshmukh Automation Engineer · SK Biotek
Working with Mostafa has been one of the most seamless and rewarding experiences in my career. He's incredibly sharp, structured in his thinking, and has a natural ability to take any idea from scratch and turn it into something solid fast.
Abdelrhafar Naouri Solutions Architect
He's one of the most reliable and technically sharp Web3 developers I've met. His ability to break down complex challenges and turn them into clear, actionable solutions is something I've consistently admired.
Mahdi Gharib Senior Designer · Web3 / AI / DeFi

Let's take the housing off something.

Reverse-engineering, Web3 infrastructure, firmware teardowns, consulting. I answer email inside 24 hours.