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By Neko
Neko is the capital routing layer for RWAs on Stellar, delivered as a non-custodial consumer web app (preparing mobile app) for the excluded Latin American saver. A user signs in and Neko routes that capital into real-world-asset and stablecoin yield, while keeping their keys the entire time. We deploy no contracts of our own: we compose audited Stellar building blocks (DeFindex, xBull Swap Kit, etc) through their SDKs and generated bindings, behind a uniform adapter interface. The web app is live on mainnet with $172K+ lifetime volume, $92K+ in swaps, ~$43K TVL across 5 vaults, and 2.5x month-over-month volume growth.
Non-custodial consumer web app. Connect a Stellar Wallet through Stellar Wallets Kit; every transaction is authorized by the user on their own device.
DeFindex yield vaults. We operate DeFindex vault instances as manager, with a rebalance planner that reallocates between strategies inside a vault and collects fee (we utilize generated Soroban bindings and the DeFindex SDK). We have five live vaults, the diversified-strategy product our TVL sits in, and an Integration Partnership with the DeFindex team.
Aquarius. AMM liquidity, tracked pools and valuations through our Aqua Pool Adapter. Liquidity depth and position data for assets outside lending pools.
xBull Swap Kit. Path-payment routing and swap quotes on most Stellar Swaps (Soroswap, xBull, Stellar Router and Stellar DEX). We've routed $92K+ in swaps using the swap kit.
Reflector pricing. On-chain oracle reads as the primary price source for XLM, USDC, EURC, CETES, USTRY and TESOURO, with layered fallbacks declared per asset.
RWA inventory + verified asset registry. Etherfuse tokenized instruments (CETES, USTRY, TESOURO) on Stellar, in an allowlist-only registry where each issuer is verified against its SEP-1 stellar.toml, with allowlist-gated institutional assets flagged as reference-only. It's impact is the actual dollar-denominated shelf users invest into, and protection against the impostor RWA assets that exist on mainnet using well-known tickers.
Investment simulator, Basic/Expert modes, and a public metrics dashboard. Plain-language yield projections, a UI split for non-DeFi-native users, and verifiable public metrics at analytics.nekoprotocol.xyz.
Mobile app. Expo/React Native app reusing our shared TypeScript packages (same adapters, same Stellar integration layer, no fork and no new trust boundary). Privy's RN SDK serves both surfaces from one integration. Adds biometric unlock, deep links, and push notifications event-sourced from on-chain outcomes: transaction confirmations, DeFindex vault runs, portfolio valuations. Our ICP lives on a phone, so a mobile app is ideal. A store listing is both an acquisition channel and a trust signal, and push notifications is what turns a one-time depositor into a recurring one.
Smart Wallet (f.e. Privy or alternative). Email/social sign-in provisions a non-custodial Stellar account with keys in a TEE, no seed phrase; entering as one more module behind the wallet abstraction above. Impact: removes the largest onboarding drop-off; the foundation everything else rides on.
RWA protocol adapters Upshift, Sentora, Templar. Three new yield sources behind the same interface Aqua already uses, each explicitly registered before users can reach it. This widens the RWA shelf beyond a two-protocol app into a real portfolio of dollar options.
Deeper RWA integration and UI. We'll implement issuer identity, underlying instrument, yield basis net of fees, jurisdiction, redemption mechanics and liquidity depth added to the registry, with plain-language asset detail and full Basic-mode RWA coverage; SEP-1 verification formalized into the schema.
Portfolio management. One unified position view across DeFindex, Aqua and the new protocols, built from on-chain state and vault price-per-share, valued in local currency through Reflector. The users' "what do I own, and is it working?" in one screen instead of several protocol UIs.
RWAs are the inventory. The blockchain is the infrastructure. We own the customer relationship. This is the flow: More consumers -> More AUM -> More issuer demand -> Better inventory -> More consumers.
We generate revenue through two complementary streams: fees charged to users for investment activity and fees charged to asset issuers for distributing their products through Neko (as we scale, not for this build).
User Fees (currently active). Neko currently generates revenue from the following user activities: 10% performance fee on the returns generated through Neko’s investment vaults. The fee is applied exclusively to investment gains. 0.2% swap fee on swaps executed through Neko.
Asset Issuer Fees (as we scale). As Neko expands the number of financial products available to users, asset issuers will become an additional source of revenue: 1% annual platform fee based on the capital invested by Neko users into each issuer’s product. One-time listing fee charged to issuers when onboarding an asset and making it available through Neko.
$126.7K
Neko (https://nekoprotocol.xyz) is live on mainnet with real, verifiable on-chain usage. Our public metrics dashboard is at https://analytics.nekoprotocol.xyz.
Volume grew ~3x month-over-month (May -> August 2026)
$239K+ in lifetime transaction volume across lending, swaps and vault deposits
$92K+ in all-time swaps routed through xBull Swap Kit (and previously Soroswap)
$79K+ TVL across 5 live DeFindex yield vaults that we operate as manager
95+ users registered onto the platform
CAC near zero: organic growth through LatAm community leaders in Telegram and X, with no paid acquisition
First SCF Instaward (completed, March 2026): Funded Neko's first mainnet deployment on the web app, swap functionality via Soroswap and our initial DeFindex integration.
Second SCF Instaward (approved, June 2026): Funded a dedicated RPC layer with failover and caching (replacing the shared public endpoints that were causing failed transactions under load), a referral system, and an email/activation flow to convert wallet-connected users who never completed a first transaction.
Selected for the BAF Código Alebrije Scale program (Mexico City, with SDF DevRels)
Participated in Stellar House Mexico on the strength of our Scale Track impact
Invited to Stellar's GIVE Impact Studio (Kenya) as program partners: our representative delivered a talk on DeFi and an AMA on Instawards
Participation in Stellar Summit São Paulo 2026 and pitched the product
Integration Partners with DeFindex
Third place at Stellar House 2025 (Buenos Aires) in November
Graduates of Founder School (Cohort #1, 2026)
Referred by an SDF member
Description: Expo / React Native app consuming our existing shared TypeScript packages (@neko/orchestrator, @neko/keeper, @neko/stellar-wallet, @neko/api-contracts) unchanged, with biometric unlock, deep links, push notifications event-sourced from on-chain outcomes (transaction confirmations, DeFindex vault runs, portfolio valuations) and the iOS/Android build pipeline. No forked integration code and no new backend surface mobile.
Completion: Installable build (TestFlight + Play Internal Testing links in the report) where a reviewer connects a wallet, views live mainnet balances, and authorizes a transaction. Private repository (we will invite reviewers/send reports) diff shows the mobile app importing the same packages as the web app.
Description: Email/social sign-in provisions a non-custodial Stellar account with keys securely held in a TEE, added as an additional module behind the wallet abstraction that already supports most Stellar wallets. Privy’s React Native SDK (or alternative, like Pollar SDK) serves both web and mobile surfaces through a single integration, while keeping the current wallet integrations. A designated sponsor account covers the new wallet’s required Stellar reserves through sponsored reserves and submits using fee bump transactions, allowing new users to onboard and receive funds without first acquiring or holding XLM (or for instance, any other asset). The sponsor account (GBVYUJW2F5Q4FWRIPIRO52T47Y62JAEBNKZRGZFCUQTW52HFBXXXAD2P) is the attributable on-chain footprint responsible for fee-payment and sponsorship operations. Sponsor account on Stellar Expert: https://stellar.expert/explorer/public/account/GBVYUJW2F5Q4FWRIPIRO52T47Y62JAEBNKZRGZFCUQTW52HFBXXXAD2P
Completion: reviewer signs in with email, receives a Stellar account without managing a seed phrase, recovers the same account on a second device, and completes a mainnet transaction. The reviewer completes wallet activation without providing XLM for fees. Existing Freighter, xBull, Lobstr, and Ledger connection paths are verified to remain operational.
This link leads to our broken down budget, per deliverable, tranche and actions to be taken: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kf8ZnK1HPgFFUZa5ENtRFvcJFRERMbhQ6eRxWcoPmLM/edit?usp=sharing
Description: Asset registry schema extended to carry issuer identity, underlying instrument, yield basis, redemption mechanics and liquidity depth with issuer identity verified against each issuer's SEP-1. This is a structural check users need.
Completion: Every asset on the shelf carries a verified provenance record; the verification routine fails closed on an unverified or mismatched issuer, demonstrated against a deliberately failing test case. Schema and verification code in the private repo (we will invite reviewers/send reports).
Description: Upshift integrated through our uniform Pool Registry adapter interface with asset-registry entries and a declared price source, explicitly registered before users can reach it. Upshift is custodied via Fordefi (different trust model to ones currently in Neko) but will showcase along current pools with comparable trust surface.
Completion: Deposit and withdrawal round-trip on mainnet with a transaction hash per leg; pool live in-app with rates matching the protocol's own reported rate.
Description: Sentora integrated through the adapter interface generalized in Deliverable 2, includes asset-registry entries, declared price source, explicit registration before users can reach it. Sentora will showcase along current pools/vaults with comparable trust surface.
Completion: Deposit and withdrawal round-trip on mainnet with a transaction hash per leg; pool live in-app with rates matching the protocol's own reported rate.
Description: Templar Protocol integrated through the adapter interface generalized in Deliverable 2, includes asset-registry entries, declared price source, explicit registration before users can reach it. Templar is settled through NEAR's MPC network (different trust model to ones currently in Neko) but will showcase along current pools with comparable trust surface.
Completion: Deposit and withdrawal round-trip on mainnet with a transaction hash per leg; pool live in-app with rates matching the protocol's own reported rate.
Description: STRIDE threat model covering the asset-registry / issuer-verification layer, smart wallet (Privy TEE keys plus recovery), fee sponsor account and the Pool Registry adapter interface plus the three newly-registered protocol adapters. Each identified threat maps to one or more on-chain monitors: trigger condition, baseline, severity, alert channel and response owner. Intended to cover unauthorized adapter registration, issuer-verification bypass, price-source manipulation, anomalous withdrawal patterns, sponsorship drain, unauthorized fee-bump use, sybil abuse, and more.
Completion: Threat model and monitoring plan published in the private repo (we will invite reviewers/send reports); every category carries at least one threat with a traceable monitor. Monitors live against mainnet.
This link leads to our broken down budget, per deliverable, tranche and actions to be taken: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kf8ZnK1HPgFFUZa5ENtRFvcJFRERMbhQ6eRxWcoPmLM/edit?usp=sharing
Description: In-app funding and withdrawal in local Latin American currency through a licensed anchor: SEP-10 authentication, SEP-24 interactive handoff, settlement tracking. Anchors are allowlisted and SEP-1 verified. Fiat, KYC and compliance stay with the anchor, which pays the user's own Stellar account directly (Neko never holds fiat).
Completion: A real local-currency deposit settles as USDC on a user's mainnet account and a withdrawal returns to local currency, in at least one production corridor, both with verifiable Stellar transaction hashes.
Description: Canonical USDC into Stellar from any CCTP-supported chain via burn-and-mint with no wrapped asset, no third-party bridge, funds arriving directly at the user's own Stellar account.
Completion: A user moves USDC from a supported chain into their Stellar account in-app and invests it (verifiable on-chain).
Description: One position view across DeFindex vaults, Aqua positions, wallet balances and the three new RWA protocols normalized, valued in the user's local currency through Reflector with layered fallbacks, with yield attribution and history.
Completion: Reviewer sees every position across all integrated venues in one list in local currency, reconciling against Stellar Expert, live in both web and mobile.
Description: Plain-language asset detail for every RWA (what the instrument is, what backs it, how to exit), full RWA coverage in Basic mode where our target user lives, consistent local-currency display, and the investment simulator extended. Shipped in public App Store and Google Play listings with full assets, privacy policy and terms.
Completion: Public App Store and Google Play URLs for Neko listing; reviewer installs on a real device, reaches every RWA on the shelf in Basic mode and completes a full mainnet round-trip verifiable.
Description: A structured testing cohort of at least 40 real Latin American users runs the full loop on mainnet on their own phones; a documented internal security review of the new protocol integrations, funding paths and verification logic (no paid audit is billed to this award); public metrics dashboard built on chain reads.
Completion: Published cohort report with participant count against the stated target, completion rate, and the top friction points with our response to each; published review scope, findings and remediations.
This link leads to our broken down budget, per deliverable, tranche and actions to be taken: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kf8ZnK1HPgFFUZa5ENtRFvcJFRERMbhQ6eRxWcoPmLM/edit?usp=sharing
At least $25,000 in capital routed on Stellar mainnet through Neko by at least 30 unique accounts across at least 3 yield opportunities (including the ones that will be added on Tranche 2) from Tranche 1 completion to Tranche 3 completion (pre-existing capital at the start of tracking is not included). Completion is calculated from mainnet transactions using provided addresses (vaults, swap fee receiver, pools fee receiver, etc) to be delivered at award time and Neko public analytics page: https://analytics.nekoprotocol.xyz.
We are 4 Costa Rican 🇨🇷 builders, from Oppia Labs:
Kevin Latino: Product Lead - +3 years in product experience, Software Engineer @ LMD - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinlatino/ https://github.com/KevinLatino
Matias Aguilar: Creative Director & Engineer - +3 years in marketing and SC engineer, Engineer @ ACTA - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aguilar1x/ https://github.com/aguilar1x
Santiago Villarreal: Growth Lead - +3 years in blockchain experience, AI Lead @ GrantFox - https://www.linkedin.com/in/santiagovillarrealarley/ https://github.com/Villarley
Fabian Sanchez: Technical Lead - +2 years as blockchain developer, Full-Stack Engineer @ GrantFox - https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabian-sanchez-d/ https://github.com/FabianSanchezD
Santiago Villarreal Arley
Kevin Latino
Fabian Sanchez
Matias Aguilar
No other submissions.