We’ve been watching decentralization grow in strange ways these past few years.

Lots of new networks, lots of new layers, but not a lot of new people running them. And the gap shows.

So we wrote something about it. A look at why validator growth leveled out, what people are talking about now, and where a human-based model fits into the picture.

If decentralization is going to grow true, it probably needs new inputs.

Here’s a take on one of them: https://blog.humanode.io/when-decentralization-stops-growing-you-have-to-look-at-whats-missing/

Here’s second pickup from the Humanode AI Video Contest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RL7_hixUtY

Nice tempo, message, and a pretty good take on what Humanode is building, definitely worth sharing with everyone.

If you want your video to get featured too, you’ve still got about 5 days left.

Post it on X, Instagram, or TikTok, or any social platform then drop the link in ⁠# humanodes-got-talent on Discord.

You’ll be in the running for $300 worth of HMND, so if you’ve got an idea, go for it.

Contest details:
https://blog.humanode.io/humanodes-first-ai-video-contest-is-live/

We’d love to see more.

We’ve updated how proto-Vortex proposals move from idea to vote.

After running a few rounds and sitting down to review what worked and what didn’t, we’ve simplified the flow into three clear phases: draft, deliberation-ready, and voting-ready. Each phase has a purpose. Each one matters.

This update is about slowing things down in the right places. Getting real signal from the community. Giving governors space to engage. And making voting feel final, intentional, and fair.

If you’re planning to submit a proposal, or even just thinking about it, this is worth a read. It explains how to test ideas early, how deliberation actually works, and why not every proposal is meant to pass on the first try.

Read the full announcement here: https://blog.humanode.io/updates-to-the-proto-vortex-flow/

In the meantime, happy proposals!

Here’s our third pickup from the Humanode AI Video Contest: https://x.com/Nozzy_art/status/2000313138928099559

As time goes on, the submissions are getting more thoughtful, more creative, and more polished. This one is a great example of that.

Quick reminder: the contest wraps up in 3 days.
If you want your video to get featured too, now’s the moment.

Post your video on X, Instagram, or TikTok, then drop the link in humanodes-got-talent on Discord.

You’ll be in the running for $300 worth of HMND.

All the details are here:
https://blog.humanode.io/humanodes-first-ai-video-contest-is-live/

Final stretch. Looking forward to what’s next.

Another pickup from the Humanode AI Video Contest: https://x.com/lonerogue8/status/1999802368557224245

This one takes a different approach and shows how many ways people are interpreting Humanode. That variety has been one of the best parts of this contest so far.

We’re close to the end now, so if you want your video to get featured, don’t wait.
Post it on X, Instagram, or TikTok, then drop the link in 🎤-humanodes-got-talent on Discord.

You’ll be in the running for $300 worth of HMND.

Full contest details:
https://blog.humanode.io/humanodes-first-ai-video-contest-is-live/

A few days left. Make it count.

Remember when X, ChatGPT, Discord, Shopify and almost 1/4th of the web went down last month… all at once? That was architectural issue at core level of internet.

This piece digs into why centralized servers are a hidden risk to a free internet, and what real decentralization actually demands.

Full piece here: https://blog.humanode.io/opinion-piece-the-pitfall-of-centralized-servers/

Fireside this Thursday

This week we’re joined by Chung, Investment Partner at ArkStream Capital, for a chat that cuts into one of crypto’s weirdest truths:

Theme: Stablecoin rise: decentralized rails, centralized money.

They move fast, work globally, and run on open networks but the money behind them? Centralized, tightly controlled, and nothing like what Satoshi imagined.

Is this progress, or a step backwards?

Dato and Victor from Humanode will be hosting.

🗓️ Thursday, Dec 18
🕑 14:00 UTC
📍 Live on Humanode socials: X | YouTube | Telegram | Discord

“Slaves by Training: The Unacknowledged Shackles of the Modern Economy & Crypto Market”
by Shannon Higgins, Humanode Media Lead is live.

It draws an uncomfortable line between historical slavery, modern consumer conditioning, and how today’s crypto markets quietly train people to accept concentration of power, instant gratification, and scraps instead of ownership.

Read it here: https://blog.humanode.io/opinion-slaves-by-training-the-unacknowledged-shackles-of-the-modern-economy-crypto-market/

Reminder: Fireside in One Hour

This week we’re joined by Chung, Investment Partner at ArkStream Capital, for a chat that cuts into one of crypto’s weirdest truths:

Theme: Stablecoin rise: decentralized rails, centralized money.

They move fast, work globally, and run on open networks but the money behind them? Centralized, tightly controlled, and nothing like what Satoshi imagined.

Is this progress, or a step backwards?

Dato and Victor from Humanode will be hosting.

🗓️ Thursday, Dec 18
🕑 14:00 UTC
📍 Live on Humanode socials: X | YouTube | Telegram | Discord

Most games don’t break when the balance is wrong.
They break when the numbers stop meaning what you think they mean.

If you’ve ever shipped an event that drained too fast, watched a leaderboard feel “off,” or tuned rewards only to make honest players angry, this piece is for you.

It looks at how Sybils quietly rot game economies from the inside. Why studios end up armoring systems instead of designing them. And what changes when identity stops being cheap.

Read: When Your Game Economy Starts Lying to You

Time for this week's validator poll.

If you’ve linked your validator address to your bio-authenticated Discord, just head to ⁠ ⁠⁠⁠human-node-polls and vote. If not, you can still do it.

Remember, voting is part of the deal under Proof-of-Polls to be eligible for full validator rewards.

As always, the poll will be open for 3 days. Jump in and cast your vote.

For more information: https://blog.humanode.io/upcoming-changes-to-the-validator-fee-distribution/

Guide: https://link.humanode.io/guide/validator-address-submission

Vortex Demo UI Released

Today, we are happy to announce the release of the demo version of Vortex and its UI.

No, this version is not onchain. Yes, these are the various functions we currently envision, and you are free to go through them and play with the demo version here. Do note that the current version of the demo app will be desktop only.

As our Dev team continues to build the systems and write the code behind the version that will be launched onchain, we will also be working on making the functionality for proto-Vortex available on this Demo Vortex UI, moving the submission of proposals and the voting on them here sometime in the near future.

One thing to remember is that what we have here is the vision of how we see Vortex working in the future. It has functions and ideas that may not reach the initial release of Vortex, as we are building the most important and needed functions for the current Humanode chain. As governance and its needs grow, so will Vortex.

What we would like the community to do, is go through the demo Vortex UI, experience it, and give us feedback. Tell us what you like about it, what you think we should do better. What you think we nailed, and what we are missing. If you have ideas or questions, do share them too. Feel free to drop comments in our Discord server # vortex-experimental-mockups channel.

As stated before, we are in the proof-of-concept phase of Vortex. Your input and feedback is what we are seeking the most, as your input is the most valuable asset we can gain at this stage of the project.

If you would like to go back and read up about Vortex, you can find the Vortex whitepaper here: https://gitbook.humanode.io/vortex-1.0

Vortex Demo: http://link.humanode.io/vortex-experimental-mockups

Github repo: http://link.humanode.io/vortex-experimental-mockups/github

Feedback: http://link.humanode.io/chat/vortex-experimental-mockups-feedback

Have fun!

The Voting for the Humanode AI-generated video contest is here!

There were 40 valid entries to the contest, and the team loved them all. Naturally, they are all winners in our hearts, but as it is a contest, we shall vote along with the community to see who the winners are.

This is how it will work.

Due to limitations in the Discord voting system, we will be grouping them into groups of 10. Thus, there will be 4 groups.

You have one vote for each group. Vote for the video you like the most in each group, you only have one vote per group.

After the 72-hour voting period, the 2 videos that get the highest score in each group will advance to the final round of voting.

Out of the 8 videos that advance to the final round, you pick the one video you like the most.

The video that wins the most votes will be the 1st prize winner. The second most, the 2nd. The third gets 3rd place.

Important rules about who can vote and where to vote.

New accounts (as in created or joined after the voting started), unless they were the ones who submitted the video, will not be able to have their votes counted (to avoid sybil voting).

Voting will be held in the ⁠sr-polls channel in the Humanode Discord server. As it is a Sybil-resistant channel, you will have to have your account have the “verified human” tag. Thus, if you haven’t proven you are a human yet, go get bioauthenticated. Just go to Linked Roles in the server menu, select Verified Human (Gen.7), and go through the steps. It is free. No strings attached. But remember, you can only link your biometrics to one Discord account. (Check for the step-by-step here).

Do note that if there is a tie in the final votes, the Humanode Core Team will be responsible for deciding how to break the tie and declare a winner.

Thank you all for participating, and good luck to the contestants!

Reminder

The first round of voting for the Humanode AI-generated video contest is ongoing, with about 36 hours left.

As a quick recap, we had 40 valid entries, which are split into 4 groups of 10 videos.

You have one vote per group.
That means four votes in total, one in each group.
Please make sure you vote in all four groups, so none of your votes go unused.

Once the 72-hour voting period ends, the top two videos from each group will move on to the final round.

Voting is happening in the # sr-poll channel on the Humanode Discord server.
Since this is a Sybil-resistant channel, your account needs the Verified Human role.

If you have not done that yet, you can complete bioauthentication via Linked Roles → Verified Human (Gen.7). It is free and only takes a moment.

Thanks again to everyone taking part, and good luck to all the contestants.

📰 Humanode Biweekly Vol.113 is out!

tl;dr
🌀 Vortex Demo UI released + updates to the proto-Vortex proposal flow

🤖 Polana Network integrated BotBasher in Discord to fight bots

🔥 Humanode Fireside with Chung (Investment Partner @ ArkStream Capital)

🎥 AI video contest voting is live

📜 New essays: When Your Game Economy Starts Lying to You + When decentralization stops growing

🗳️ Opinions: Slaves by training + The pitfall of centralized servers


Stay human. Always.
👉 Full update here: https://blog.humanode.io/humanode-biweekly-vol-113/

Just a heads up for everyone staking in the WeHMND/WETH pool.

The current LP staking contract ends tomorrow, December 25, 2025, at block 16048876. At the exact same block, a new LP pool goes live and will run for the next 6 months:
0x7Fff8c2d71aF0d3bD8750feEc800C6a0b952d812

If you’re currently staked in the WeHMND/WETH pool:
* Rewards stop once the current contract ends
* Your LP tokens remain safe
* To keep earning, you’ll need to unstake from the old contract and restake in the new one
* Rewards start as soon as you stake in the new pool
* You can still claim any rewards you already earned in the previous contract

How to move your stake:
1. Unstake your LP tokens from the old contract.
2. Go to the new contract and stake the same LP tokens.

If you’re new to Biostaking, this new pool is a clean entry point. Current APR ranges between 20% and 200%, depending on network conditions.

Start staking here:
https://mainnet.biostaker.hmnd.app/

Step-by-step guide:
https://link.humanode.io/guide/biodefi