Aryan Jain
Aryan Jain Summer of Bitcoin Batch of 2025, worked on lnprototest

How I YOLO’d My Way into Summer of Bitcoin: Chaotic but Glorious Journey

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Hey everyone! 👋
I’m Aryan, a 3rd-year B.Tech CS undergrad, open source fanatic, part-time bug squasher, and full-time community lurker. Today, I’m gonna spill the chai about my wild ride into Summer of Bitcoin 2025 — a journey full of panic, deadlines, accidental genius, and a few bugs that nearly gave me bugs in real life 🐛💀.

🎬 Act 1: Spark of Madness

It all started in October 2024. I was knee-deep in communities, Web3 projects, academics, and random YouTube tutorials at 2 AM — basically the usual CS student starter pack.

That’s when I stumbled upon open source programs like GSoC, LFX, and Summer of Bitcoin and thought,

“ Heck yeah, let’s contribute to global projects while crying over DSA assignments!”

Fast forward to February , I was sleep-deprived but determined , and I finally applied to Summer of Bitcoin.

Fun fact : It took me** 3 tries** , one emotional support Maggi packet, and 5000+ other students later — I GOT IN. 🎉

🧠 Act 2: The Bootcamp Booty Kicker

We were assigned 4 assignments per week. Sounds cute, right?
WRONG.
It was like trying to learn ancient Bitcoin wizardry while fighting bugs from Mordor. 🧙‍♂️🔥There was:

  • 1 optional challenge (haha, as if that word means anything)
  • 3 mandatory ones that made my compiler cry
  • Countless late-night debug sessions powered by caffeine and confusion

But guess what? I SURVIVED. Somehow. Barely.

📑 Act 3: The Proposal Chaos Begins

Then came the Proposal Round — the Hunger Games of open-source internships. Out of thousands, only 174 of us made it through. I felt like the chosen one, until reality kicked in.

We had to:

  • Choose our orgs by April 9
  • Lock 3 orgs by April 12
  • Then re-select again before April 15
  • And THEN finally submit proposals by April 25

Sounds confusing? IT WAS.

Now, here’s the juicy part.
On April 14 — a new org LNPrototest magically appeared like a rare Pokémon. I wanted it BAD. But I had already locked my 3 orgs.
So now I was:

  • Rejected from switching
  • Competing in an org with 49 people
  • Stressed
  • Sleep-deprived (again)
  • Still hopeful (somehow)

So I did what any responsible student would do: PANIC.
Then grind. Then message mentors. Then panic again.

🖌️ Act 4: UI, You and I

While others were chilling, my mentor shared an image of a UI design.
That’s it. Just an image.

Something clicked. Maybe it was inspiration. Or sleep deprivation.

I said, “ Bro let’s just prototype this! ”

I built a working UI, slapped it on my proposal, submitted everything, and whispered to the open-source gods:

“ Please let this work or I’ll cry into my terminal.”

My Organization Picks:

🎉 Act 5: Result Day (aka Judgment Day)

🗓️ Date: May 5
Mood: Terrified
Playlist: “Apna Time Aayega” on loop

I opened the results.
❌ Rejected by LND
❌ Rejected by P2Pool
✅ ACCEPTED FOR LNPrototest!!!

Cue the screaming, jumping, texting everyone I know, and a celebratory nap. 😴💃

🧠 TL;DR — But Make it Fun

  • Applied to SoB (after 3 tries 🥲)
  • Survived the Bootcamp of Doom
  • Fought my way through proposal jungle
  • Randomly Prototyped a UI (and somehow impressed the mentor)
  • Got in against all odds (and org locks)

Now, I’m officially a Summer of Bitcoin contributor. I’ll be working on some cool LNPrototest magic and hopefully not break the internet.

🧠 What is lnprototest?

Let’s make it fun!
Imagine you and your friends are playing with toy trains 🚂. For the game to work, all trains must follow the same rules — stop at red lights, honk at crossings, etc. If one train does its own thing, it crashes!

lnprototest is the referee that ensures all trains (i.e., Lightning Network implementations) follow the rules.

How It Works:

  1. Talks in a secret protocol (called BOLT8) with Lightning apps.
  2. Uses a custom Python “Runner ” to control the app.
  3. Sends test messages: “Say Hi!” → App responds “Hi!” ✅
  4. If the app misbehaves, the test catches it. ❌

It ensures Lightning apps around the world interoperate safely and reliably.

🌟 Why This Matters to Me

This internship isn’t just about writing tests — it’s about contributing to financial freedom and a borderless, censorship-resistant future.

As someone who started with open-source projects like CircuitVerse , this felt like leveling up :

  • 🧠 Learning Bitcoin internals and network protocols
  • 🤝 Working with a global dev community
  • 💰 Earning a stipend in Bitcoin
  • 🚀 Building a future in open source + blockchain

I’m investing 175+ hours into this internship and loving every bit of it!

🙌 Grateful Beyond Words

Special thanks to:
🙏 My family & friends for their endless support
💻 The Summer of Bitcoin team

🚀 Final Words

To all the folks grinding out there, remember:

“Sometimes your best strategy is vibes, prototypes, and persistence.”

Stay chaotic. Stay caffeinated.
And may your pull requests always get merged! ❤️‍🔥

🔗 Let’s Connect!

Love open source, Bitcoin, or just geeking out?
Let’s chat!

📩 DMs open — let’s build cool stuff together!

Thanks for reading! Here’s to building the future of Bitcoin — one test at a time. ⚡

— Aryan Jain
Open Source Creator | Summer of Bitcoin 2025 Intern