# How Blockchain Whitepapers Became Worldbuilding Documents Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/web3-tech-brief-by-hackernoon-6365654/how-blockchain-whitepapers-became-worldbuilding-documents Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/web3-tech-brief-by-hackernoon-6365654/how-blockchain-whitepapers-became-worldbuilding-documents.md Podcast: [Web3 Tech Brief By HackerNoon](https://stenobird.com/podcast/web3-tech-brief-by-hackernoon-6365654) Published: 2026-07-09T16:01:19+00:00 Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/6c8f2be2 Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/6c8f2be2/e6cdd2a5.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/web3-tech-brief-by-hackernoon-6365654/episodes/how-blockchain-whitepapers-became-worldbuilding-documents Duration seconds: 616 ## Resource This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/how-blockchain-whitepapers-became-worldbuilding-documents . A firsthand reflection on writing blockchain whitepapers during the ICO boom, and on becoming an unlikely author of futures that did not yet exist. Check more stories related to web3 at: https://hackernoon.com/c/web3 . You can also check exclusive content about #web3 , #blockchain , #ethereum , #ico , #whitepapers , #storytelling , #web-history , #startups , and more. This story was written by: @intellicorepress . Learn more about this writer by checking @intellicorepress's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com . During the ICO boom, whitepapers moved from technical documents to world-building tools: part pitch deck, part manifesto, part speculative fiction. This essay revisits what it felt like to write them from the inside. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/web3-tech-brief-by-hackernoon-6365654/episodes/how-blockchain-whitepapers-became-worldbuilding-documents/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/web3-tech-brief-by-hackernoon-6365654/how-blockchain-whitepapers-became-worldbuilding-documents.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.