The HackerNoon Newsletter: Leader or No Leader, That is the Question (12/21/2025)

How are you, hacker?

🪐 What’s happening in tech today, December 21, 2025?

The HackerNoon Newsletter brings the HackerNoon homepage straight to your inbox. On this day, The Mayan Long Count Calendar Ended in 2012, Gangnam Style Reached One Billion Views in 2012, The First Ever Basketball Game is Played in 1891, and we present you with these top quality stories. From Best AI Automation Platforms for Building Smarter Workflows in 2026 to Leader or No Leader, That is the Question, let’s dive right in.

Exploiting EIP-7702 Delegation in the Ethernaut Cashback Challenge — A Step-by-Step Writeup

By @hacker39947670 [ 18 Min read ] How to exploit EIP-7702 delegation flaws: A deep dive into the Ethernaut Cashback challenge with bytecode hacks and storage attacks Read More.

From AI-Supported to AI-First: What We’ve Learned Re-Engineering How We Build Software

By @dataops [ 3 Min read ] AI-first engineering shifts developers from coding to intent-setting, delivering 3× faster releases, better quality, and a new engineering mindset. Read More.

Best AI Automation Platforms for Building Smarter Workflows in 2026

By @stevebeyatte [ 7 Min read ] From no-code tools to enterprise AI systems, discover the top AI workflow automation platforms to use in 2026, and learn which solution fits your business needs Read More.

Leader or No Leader, That is the Question

By @chris127 [ 9 Min read ] For most of human history, leaders were necessary. We needed them to coordinate, decide, organize and share their vision. But technology is changing this. Read More.

Earth Cleaning Technologies: The Current RD Status and Why Were Still Losing the Race

By @chris127 [ 7 Min read ] Imagine if you could reverse decades of pollution. Remove tons of CO₂, Clean oceans, restore forests at scale. The good news? We can! The bad news? We don’t! Read More.

Before Bitcoin: The Forgotten P2P Dreams that Sparked Crypto

By @obyte [ 5 Min read ] Before crypto, pioneers dreamed of decentralized money and fair sharing. Their wild ideas shaped today’s digital freedom. Go explore how it all began! Read More.

Obscura Brings Bulletproofs++ to the Beldex Mainnet for Sustainable Scaling

By @beldexcoin [ 3 Min read ] The obscura hardfork enabled Bulletproofs++ on the Beldex mainnet at block height 4939549. Learn what this upgrades means for you. Read More.

Code Review Anti-Patterns: How to Stop Nitpicking Syntax and Start Improving Architecture

By @nikitakothari [ 5 Min read ] Code reviews are pricey. Let machines catch style issues so humans can focus on what matters: security, scalability, and architecture. Read More.

🧑‍💻 What happened in your world this week?

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We hope you enjoy this worth of free reading material. Feel free to forward this email to a nerdy friend who'll love you for it.See you on Planet Internet! With love, The HackerNoon Team ✌️