Backend Engineer | Blockchain Infrastructure
I'm a backend engineer with 5+ years of experience building backend systems, internal tools, release pipelines, smart contracts, and production infrastructure.
Currently, I'm co-founder and founding backend engineer at Caravana Studio, where I build backend infrastructure for Jokers of Neon, a production onchain card game live since December 2025 with 150k+ Starknet mainnet transactions and approximately 250 monthly active users.
I'm looking for backend or blockchain infrastructure roles where I can combine production engineering, smart contracts, and product-minded execution.
- Backend infrastructure across APIs, workers, services, monitoring, integrations, and payment-related flows.
- Production web3 experience connecting backend systems with Starknet smart contracts and onchain game logic.
- Platform engineering background from internal tooling and release pipelines for Mercado Libre and Mercado Pago mobile apps.
- Smart contract development with Cairo, Starknet, Solidity, Foundry, and blockchain-specific testing workflows.
- Open-source and ecosystem work, including 30+ pull requests across Starknet projects, backend tooling, and developer infrastructure.
- Product ownership from co-founding a studio, shipping features, supporting monetization, and translating user needs into technical work.
Backend: TypeScript, Node.js, Java, Spring Boot, REST APIs, Workers, PostgreSQL, Supabase
Blockchain: Cairo, Starknet, Dojo, Solidity, Foundry, OpenZeppelin, Aztec, Cartridge SDK
Infrastructure: GitHub, Jenkins, Datadog, Kibana, Firebase, RevenueCat, Appsflyer, Vercel, Render
Frontend / Product: React, Three.js, technical demos, gameplay-oriented UX, product prototyping
| Role | What I Worked On | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| Founding Backend Engineer / Co-founder at Caravana Studio | Backend infrastructure for Jokers of Neon, including APIs, workers, monitoring, payment-related flows, integrations, Cairo contracts, and onchain game logic. | TypeScript, Node.js, Cairo, Starknet, Cartridge SDK, RevenueCat, Firebase, Appsflyer, Supabase, PostgreSQL, Datadog |
| Smart Contract Developer at Lambda Class | Foundational Cairo 1 libraries, Solidity-to-Cairo migration work for Uniswap V2, Starknet testnet deployment workflows, and smart contract testing. | Cairo 1, Solidity, Starknet, Foundry |
| Software Engineer Analyst at Mercado Libre | Java/Spring Boot internal services for Mercado Libre and Mercado Pago mobile release pipelines, workflow automation, production monitoring, and incident support. | Java, Spring Boot, Jenkins, GitHub, Datadog, Kibana |
| Open Source Contributor in the Starknet ecosystem | 30+ PRs across 10+ projects, contributing fixes, features, tests, and developer tooling improvements. | Cairo, Solidity, Rust, Starknet, TypeScript |
| Project | Focus | Stack | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jokers of Neon | Production onchain card game with 150k+ Starknet mainnet transactions | TypeScript, Node.js, Cairo, Starknet, PostgreSQL | Website |
| StarkBound | 1st place at Dojo Game Jam #8 | Cairo, Dojo, TypeScript, React | Repo · Demo |
| Mental Poker | 1st place at RE{DEFINE} Hackathon, ZK card-game mechanics | Cairo, Noir, Garaga, TypeScript | Repo · Winners |
| Liar's Proof | 1st place at Zypherpunk Hackathon | Cairo, Dojo, Noir, Garaga, TypeScript | Repo · Devfolio · Demo |
| X402 Operator | Payment/operator prototype for X Layer Arena | Solidity, TypeScript, React | Repo · Demo |
| Phantom Chase | ZK gaming prototype for Stellar Hacks | Noir, TypeScript, React, Three.js | Repo · DoraHacks |
| Treasure Hunt | Aztec research project | Noir, TypeScript, React | Repo · Post |
Since 2022 I've participated in 20+ international hackathons and ecosystem events, including in-person events in France, Mexico, Turkey, and Argentina. I've earned 10+ awards, finalist placements, or podium finishes across Starknet, Dojo, ZK gaming, and onchain application projects.
Build X Hackathon | X Layer Arena (April) - X402 Operator - 
1st place, Dojo Game Jam #8 (March) - StarkBound - Luma - 
- 1st place, RE{DEFINE} Hackathon | Starknet (February) - Mental Poker - DoraHacks -
Stellar Hacks: ZK Gaming (February) - Phantom Chase - DoraHacks - 
Monad Moltiverse Hackathon (February) - Fluffy Fate - 
Research project (January) - Treasure Hunt - Post -
- 1st place, Zypherpunk Hackathon (December) - Liar's Proof - Devfolio -
-
Starknet Startup House (Argentina) - 3rd place, Dojo Game Jam #7 (October) - Tomie Games
- Starknet Grinta Sprint (August) - Starky
-
Starknet Startup House (France, July) - 1st place, Starknet Winter Hackathon 2025 (January) - Jokers of Neon Mods
- 1st place, Dojo Spooky Game Jam (November) - JON x Loot Survivor Mod
- 3rd place, Starknet Winter Hackathon (February) - Verdania
2nd place, ETH 5 de Mayo Hackathon (Mexico, February) - Paymeez
- 2nd place, Dojo Game Jam #3 (December) - Starkane
-
Finalist, Starknet Hacker House (Istanbul, November) - VAUTT Protocol - Dojo Game Jam #1 (October) - Wordle
- Pragma Hackathon #1 (June) - MechaStark
- 1st place, Gaming MatchBoxDao Hackathon #2 (October) - PathfindersAr
I also care about how technical work is presented. These are some demos, trailers, and presentations I've made or helped prepare:
X402 Operator Payment/operator prototype demo |
StarkBound Dojo Game Jam #8 winning project |
Liar's Proof ZK game demo from Zypherpunk Hackathon |
Tomie Games Dojo Game Jam #7 project demo |
Jokers of Neon MOD Trailer |
Jokers of Neon Short promotion video |
- Email: santiagodgalvan@gmail.com
- X: @dub_zn
- Studio: Caravana Studio