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By HedgePay
HedgePay makes DeFi investing accessible to everyday users by turning stablecoins into simple, trusted savings products. It bridges local payment rails like Pix with curated on-chain yield options, helping users protect their money from inflation without needing to understand crypto.
On-chain financial instruments offer higher yields than traditional options, yet most people never access them due to complex wallet onboarding. Hedgepay bridges that gap by turning DeFi into a simple, mobile self-banking experience designed for Latin America.
At its core, Hedgepay is a self-custodial wallet that provides direct access to stablecoins, stablebonds, and curated institutional-grade DeFi investments, without seed phrases, gas fees, or technical setup. Users can fund their accounts via local bank transfers or Pix, convert funds to USDC, and invest seamlessly through an intuitive interface. Portfolio performance and withdrawals are displayed with the same clarity as in apps like Robinhood or other mainstream brokers.
Positioned at the forefront of new DeFi opportunities on Stellar, Hedgepay will regularly expand its investment catalogue with vetted, high-yield products, giving users early access to emerging strategies while maintaining institutional-level safety standards.
Users will also be able to spend their earnings directly from the app, with upcoming features like virtual debit cards and cross-border payment rails that connect yield-generating accounts to everyday financial use. This unifies saving, investing, and spending within one seamless experience.
Hedgepay’s mission is to make saving and investing in digital dollars as effortless as using a traditional broker app, empowering people in emerging markets to preserve wealth and crush inflation through high-quality DeFi opportunities on Stellar.
The Invest Tab is the centerpiece of Hedgepay. Users can allocate USDC into a curated set of DeFi opportunities without touching smart contracts. Portfolio value, yield, and withdrawals are displayed in-app, making the process transparent and accessible.
Value: Brings DeFi yield to evderyday users without technical barriers.
How it works: User chooses a pool → Hedgepay executes the interaction in the background → user tracks portfolio in the app.
To make Hedgepay relevant in daily life, users can easily credit their account by bank transfer or Pix (for those in Brazil), and withdraw back to their bank when needed. These flows ensure users can move between fiat and USDC without leaving the app.
Value: Keeps the app practical and usable, while maintaining investment as the main focus.
How it works: User sends or receives a bank transfer/Pix → funds appear or settle in Hedgepay wallet as USDC.
Hedgepay delivers the benefits of a self-custodial wallet without the friction usually associated with crypto. Users enjoy seamless login, no seed phrase management, and no need to hold XLM for gas. The app abstracts complexity so users experience it as a simple, secure self-banking tool.
Hedgepay will connect USDC balances to virtual debit cards, enabling users to spend directly in fiat at any merchant. Cards will integrate with Apple Pay and Google Pay for everyday convenience.
To expand beyond local rails, Hedgepay will extend wallets with virtual ACH accounts for the US and virtual IBANs for Europe. This allows users to deposit and withdraw fiat internationally, bridging regional gaps and positioning Hedgepay as a global on/off-ramp hub.
Value: Unlocks broader remittance and savings use cases without leaving the app.
How it works: User receives fiat into their virtual ACH/IBAN → balance reflected as USDC in Hedgepay → available for investment or withdrawal.
Yes
$118.6K
Quantitative Success:
Active Usage: Reach 1**,000+ monthly active users (MAU)** transacting through the app within 12 months.
Transaction Volume: Exceed $300k+ in cumulative stablecoin transactions (investments, savings, or remittances) within the first year.
DeFi Participation: Onboard 1,000+ users actively allocating funds into Stellar-based DeFi protocols such as DeFindex or Arka.Fund.
Ecosystem Impact:
User Onboarding: Act as a key bridge to bring Latin American (more specifically Brazil) retail users into the Stellar DeFi ecosystem, turning stablecoin holders into active investors.
DeFi Accessibility: Simplify access to on-chain yield products through Hedgepay's intuitive, self-custodial experience.
Financial Inclusion: Help users in inflation-affected economies protect and grow their savings via Stellar-based investment opportunities.
Market Macro
Brazil is digital but under-invested.
Only 36 % of Brazilians invest — leaving ~100 million adults out of the market
Yet:
84 % have bank accounts, 43 % already invest via apps, and 36 % use digital banks
64 % are “non-investors,” but 55 % plan to start soon
Pix processed 40 B+ transactions in 2024 — digital money habits are mainstream
Inflation keeps BRL savings losing value; most earn < 5 % in traditional accounts.
This is a $200 B+ retail savings market ready to move on-chain — safely.
Complex crypto UX and low trust block adoption.
Most “non-investors” cite lack of understanding as the reason they haven’t started.
3. Education & Awareness
Objective: Make financial literacy and yield education part of HedgePay’s identity.
Themes:
“Inflation Explained:” how BRL loses value vs USD & stablecoins.
"How to Invest like Wall Street" Breaking down the logic of institutional investing, diversification
"How the Rich Think About Money" personal finance education that connects classic wealth-building principles
Execution Plan:
Bi-weekly educational posts across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and X.
Carousel explainers +60-sec “DeFi in Portuguese” clips.
WhatsApp mini-courses for emerging Class C savers.
Key metric: 20% of content focused purely on teaching, not selling.
Formats & Channels:
YouTube (5–10 min walkthroughs).
TikTok/Instagram (15–30s explainers).
Blog posts with SEO targeting
Frequency: 1 short videos every two weeks, one blog post every two weeks.
4. Community Building
Objective: Create an early user base that drives adoption and feedback.
WhatsApp Hedgepay Club with weekly Q&A and yield dashboards.
5. Referral & Viral Loops creator referral program
Creators receive a unique signup link; when a referred user deposits $100 (≈ R$550) via Pix and completes their first investment (i.e deposits into account), the creator earns a payout.
| Tier | Audience Size | Reward / Qualified User | Bonus |
|-------------------|------------------|--------------------------|------------------------------|
| Micro (5k–25k) | Niche educators | $5 USDC | +$50 after 10 activations |
| Mid (25k–100k) | Growth creators | $8 USDC | +$100 after 20 activations |
| Top > 100k | Major influencers| $10 + rev-share % | Ambassador status |
Launch Focus:
Phase 1: São Paulo / Rio — influencer activation + education campaigns.
Phase 2: Regional expansion to Class C hubs (Northeast / South).
Phase 3: Introduce debit card & merchant payments (yield → spend).
6-Month Targets:
10k wallets
R$ 800 avg deposit
800k views
20 % retention
3-month CAC payback.
Early User Interest:
Over 240 users have pre-registered for the Hedgepay beta, showing demand for investments.
Build and Release: We’ve already set up a complete build and deployment pipeline for both iOS (TestFlight) and Android (internal track), meaning the entire process of building, signing, and releasing test versions on both platforms is fully operational.
Ecosystem Experience: The team has prior hands-on experience with Stellar, including building integrations around indexers, nodes, and gas abstraction.
Community Validation:
3rd place – Road to Soroban Hackathon (October 2023).
Committed Team: An extremely motivated founding team focused on making investment products accessible in Latin America, with a clear mission to raise awareness and adoption of stablecoin-based savings and yield opportunities.
Deliverable 1: Secure Key Abstraction & Auth Flow
Description:
Add secure key abstraction so users can create and use wallets without ever seeing a seed phrase. The private key is split between the device and the cloud and reconstructed only inside a secure or TEE environment. Users authenticate with passkey, Google account, or email instead of managing keys directly. Advanced users can choose to export their private key through a dedicated, clearly warned UI flow.
How to measure completion: Users can create wallets using the supported authentication methods, sign transactions on Stellar, and export a private key that matches the original.
Budget: $4,300
Timeline: Jan 5 2025
Deliverable 2: On-/Off-Ramp Integration (Single Provider)
Description:
Integrate the first on-/off-ramp provider, covering both frontend and backend components. This includes embedding the KYC process of the selected provider, ensuring a smooth user experience through guided steps and clear feedback. The flow follows Stellar’s SEP-24 and SEP-12, to support multiple payment methods (e.g., bank transfer, Pix), including those requiring QR code or camera access like Pix.
How to measure completion: A user can complete KYC, on-ramp, and off-ramp operations with one provider through the app’s interface. Successful transactions tested in sandbox environment and documented in code and API specifications.
Budget: $8,250
Timeline: Jan 16 2025
Deliverable 3: Multi-Provider + KYC Sharing & Routing Layer
Description:
Extend integration to multiple on-/off-ramp providers and implement a shared KYC layer that allows users to verify their identity once and reuse it across providers. Introduce a routing logic that automatically selects the optimal provider for each transaction based on availability, fees, and user preferences.
How to measure completion: A user can complete KYC once and have it recognized by multiple providers. The app dynamically chooses the optimal provider for on-/off-ramp operations. Successful flows tested across at least two sandboxed providers and documented in the API and developer documentation.
Budget: $12,250
Timeline: Feb 5 2025
Deliverable 4: Gas Abstraction Layer (Stellar + Soroban Assets)
Description: Implement a gas abstraction mechanism that lets users transact with Stellar and Soroban assets without directly holding XLM for fees. The system will pre-pay gas and recover the fee automatically.
How to measure completion: User sends transaction without holding XLM and verified on Stellar testnet. Source code and documentation published.
Budget: $3,400
Timeline: Feb 13 2025
Deliverable 5: DeFi Investment Module
Description:
Add an “Invest” tab where users can browse and invest in a curated set of DeFi products. Each product will include clear information such as ROI/APY, historical performance graphs, and short explanations of what the numbers mean, for example, clarifying that a 12% return on Brazilian bonds carries different risks than a 3% return on U.S. bonds.
Users will be able to view their investment portfolio in one place, including current holdings, profits generated so far, and performance over time. The integration will support purchases on at least one of the following platforms: Etherfuse, Normal, or Equitx, with the option to select predefined strategies through DeFindex or Arkafund.
How to measure completion: A user can explore products with detailed yield information, invest USDC into at least one supported platform, track portfolio value and returns, and withdraw funds back to their wallet. All flows tested in sandbox mode and documented in the codebase and API specs.
Budget: $14,200
Timeline: Feb 28 2025
Deliverable 1: Payment Links (Peer to Peer)
Description: Integrate a way for users to pay each-other by scanning a QR code or sharing a link, that backlinks to the mobile app. The user can then specify an amount and submit the payment. The link format will follow Stellar’s SEP-7 URI scheme to ensure compatibility with wallets supporting standard transaction-signing requests.
How to measure completion: A user can scan a pre-screenshotted QR code, specify the amount to send, then submit the transaction.
Budget: $1900
Timeline: March 5 2025
Deliverable 2: On-Chain Transaction Indexer + Notifications
Description: Deploy an indexer (SubQuery, Mercury, ...) to record Hedgepay users’ Stellar on-chain transactions, and build a notification system to alert users in real time.
How to measure completion: When a user receives an on-chain transaction while the app is idle, their phone displays a notification confirming the received pay ment.
Budget: $4,300
Timeline: March 15 2025
Deliverable 3: Bridge liquidities to Stellar (Cross-chain)
Description: Integrate a bridge API (with CCTP compatibility) to let users receive stablecoin payments from supported chains directly into their HedgePay wallet. Each user gets a unique HedgePay-branded payment link that can be shared externally for receiving payments, but can also be used by the user themselves to move funds from their own wallets on other chains, removing the need to manually bridge or interact with Stellar directly. Making it easier for users to bring capital into their HedgePay wallet and the Stellar ecosystem, where it can later be allocated to DeFi investment products.
How to measure completion: A user can use their payment link to receive a USDC transfer from an external sender or from one of their own wallets on another chain, with the transaction correctly reflected in HedgePay
Budget: $5,800
Timeline: Mar 31 2025
Deliverable 4: Virtual Debit Card Issuance
Description: Enable creation and display of a virtual debit card tied to a Hedgepay wallet in the provider’s sandbox. This covers the backend call sequence to request/issue the card, storing required tokens/ids securely, and a simple in-app screen that shows the card (brand, masked PAN, expiry, status). No freeze/limits, no transaction history in this deliverable.
How to measure completion: A test user can request a card, the provider returns a card id/token, and the app shows the issued card details pulled from the sandbox. Logs contain the provider request/response ids.
Budget: $9,750
Timeline: April 5 2025
Deliverables 5: Top-up, payments, and transaction handling
Description: Add top-up and spending for the virtual card, including the on-chain USDC send from the HedgePay Stellar wallet to the card funding flow, real-time fetch of card transactions, and UI to list purchases/declines/refunds with clear states. Handle blocked/3DS/KYC-needed or “more info required” cases with user prompts and fallback messages; reconcile events from the provider to keep wallet logs and card history in sync. Top-ups or redemptions involving fiat can follow SEP-24/SEP-31 patterns for compliant off-ramp handling, keeping consistency with Stellar’s payment standards.
How to measure completion: A test user can top up (on-chain transfer initiated → card funding confirmed in sandbox), make several test purchases, and see transactions appear in the app with statuses matching the provider’s sandbox reports; blocked/declined flows show the correct UI prompts.
Budget: $13,500
Timeline: April 19 2025
Deliverable 1: Virtual Debit Card Launch & Compliance Readiness
Description: Launch the virtual debit card in production while meeting all legal and compliance requirements from the issuing partner. This includes completing cardholder agreements, privacy and fee disclosures, implementing required UI/UX components in-app, and enforcing compliance rules during onboarding and KYC. The goal is to pass the provider’s compliance review and be cleared for live issuance.
How to measure completion: Card provider grants production approval confirming all legal, compliance, and UX requirements are met.
Budget: $10,500
Timeline: May 6 2025
Deliverable 2: AML & Transaction Monitoring System
Description: Build a live AML and transaction monitoring system for both wallet and card activity. Define detection rules for suspicious behavior such as rapid top-ups, circular transfers, or risky addresses, and provide a dashboard for alert review, filtering, and report exports. The system should preferably also integrate a KYT (Know Your Transaction) provider for real-time address risk scoring and flagging.
How to measure completion: Evaluator can access the monitoring dashboard, view triggered alerts from test scenarios, and verify that KYT data is used in the rule engine.
Budget: $17,000
Timeline: May 15 2025
Deliverable 3: Virtual IBAN and ACH Integration
Description: Add virtual IBAN (EU) and ACH (US) account support so users can deposit and withdraw fiat directly from HedgePay. This includes backend connections to the banking provider and front-end flows explaining clearly what each account does, conversion to USDC, and expected processing times.
How to measure completion: User can receive fiat into a virtual IBAN or ACH account and see the equivalent USDC credited in their wallet, with outbound transfers confirmed in sandbox tests.
Budget: $8,450
Timeline: May 25 2025
Deliverable 4: Smart UI Enhancements & Investment Guidance
Description: Final round of UI improvements to make the app more intuitive and engaging. This includes cleaning and refining key screens, adding features like automatic rounding of spendings, and introducing subtle guidance or animations (e.g., an avatar or assistant) to encourage users to explore investment options within the app.
How to measure completion: Internal testers can navigate the improved flows, see rounding behavior applied correctly, and interact with the new guidance elements during simulated user sessions.
Budget: $5,000
Timeline: May 31 2025
Charles-Edouard Ladari (CEO & Co-Founder)
Software engineer with over 10 years of experience, including 5+ years in DevOps and cloud. Active in the Stellar ecosystem for 2 years and with 2 years of prior experience in Solidity. Originally from French Guiana and Brazil, he is focused on making payment systems and investments more accessible in Latin America. Known for strong optimization skills — in a past startup, cut runtime from 53s to 1s. Member of Toptal network.
Thomas Liu (CTO & Co-Founder)
Blockchain engineer with 5 years of experience developing decentralized applications and financial infrastructure. Former FAANG engineer and founding engineer at two startups that collectively raised over $2 million in funding. Previously built payment and mobile banking systems at Interac (Canada) and gained extensive capital-markets experience through developing tools for fixed-income trading systems.
Marcin Jaczynski (Full-Stack Engineer)
Full-stack blockchain engineer with 4 years of experience developing decentralized systems. Previously worked at Newton, one of Canada’s leading crypto exchanges, where he contributed to the development of mobile-first self-custodial wallet solutions and worked at a web3 startup building no-code automation tools for smart contracts.
Illia Osmanov (Senior Front-end)
Front-end engineer with 10+ years of experience across JavaScript, TypeScript, and Vue.js. Formerly at Cisco, where he improved app performance in low-connectivity regions. Contributed to open-source projects like Effector and ts-vuex-modules, and has built complex applications including a full-featured video editor.
Thomas
Charles-Edouard LADARI
No other submissions.