DotPay

Project Description

We built a payments application on Arbitrum that makes USDC spendable in Kenya’s real economy without requiring users to cash out through exchanges first.

Our MVP enables three core capabilities:

1. Onchain stablecoin transfers
   Users can send and receive USDC directly on Arbitrum using smart accounts and gas-sponsored transactions for a seamless mobile experience.

2. Direct payments to M-Pesa tills and paybills
   From within the app, users can pay real M-Pesa till numbers and paybill numbers using their onchain USDC balance. Settlement happens on Arbitrum, while fiat coordination delivers Kenyan shillings to the merchant.

3. Wallet-to-phone bridging
   Users can send funds from an onchain wallet directly to an offchain M-Pesa phone number. This removes the need for manual exchange withdrawals or multi-step conversions.

On the frontend, balances are displayed in KES (KSH) to match local pricing expectations. On the backend, all balances remain denominated in USDC. This design allows stablecoins to integrate naturally into a KES-denominated economy without exposing users to unnecessary crypto complexity.

The entire MVP is currently deployed on Arbitrum Sepolia.

What This Demonstrates

This project shows that:

• Arbitrum can serve as a real-world payments settlement layer.

• Stablecoins can integrate directly with dominant mobile money systems.

• Users can spend crypto locally without switching platforms or cashing out first.

• Account abstraction and gas sponsorship significantly improve usability for mainstream adoption.

Instead of building another wallet interface, we focused on bridging onchain value to everyday economic activity. The result is a system where USDC behaves like local money, powered by Arbitrum.

Why It Matters

In Kenya, mobile money is deeply embedded in daily life. However, crypto users still face friction when attempting to use stablecoins for real-world transactions. Most workflows require exchanges, manual withdrawals, and multiple fee layers.

Our solution reduces this friction by:

• Keeping settlement on Arbitrum

• Abstracting currency presentation into KES

• Connecting directly to existing M-Pesa rails

• Allowing crypto to be spent without first exiting the ecosystem

This creates a practical path for stablecoin utility in emerging markets while driving real transaction volume onto Arbitrum.


NOTE: Our Project does not rely on deployed smart contracts, we are building on existing thirdweb infrastructure

Progress During Hackathon

During the hackathon, we designed and built a functional MVP that connects onchain USDC on Arbitrum to Kenya’s mobile money infrastructure.

Specifically, we:

• Implemented smart account-based wallets on Arbitrum Sepolia

• Integrated USDC as the primary settlement asset

• Enabled gas-sponsored onchain transfers for seamless UX

• Built peer-to-peer stablecoin transfers

• Integrated M-Pesa APIs to support:

  • Payments to till numbers

  • Payments to paybill numbers

  • Transfers from onchain wallets to M-Pesa phone numbers

• Implemented backend coordination for fiat settlement while maintaining onchain USDC balances

• Abstracted balances in the frontend to display KES (KSH) while keeping USDC as the underlying asset

The result is a working prototype where users can:

• Hold and send USDC on Arbitrum

• Pay real-world merchants via M-Pesa

• Send funds to offchain mobile money accounts

• Spend crypto locally without manually cashing out

All core functionality is currently live on Arbitrum Sepolia.

During the hackathon, we focused on making the entire flow seamless and practical rather than theoretical. The MVP demonstrates that Arbitrum can function as a settlement layer for real-world payments in emerging markets.

We have not raised external capital yet.

Our current focus is on building and validating the product before pursuing fundraising. We are prioritizing shipping core infrastructure, refining the user experience, and proving real-world utility and early product–market fit.

In the near term, we plan to continue building through ecosystem collaboration, grants, and strategic partnerships. We believe this approach allows us to stay lean, iterate quickly, and align closely with infrastructure partners like Arbitrum while strengthening the technical foundation of the project.

We intend to evaluate a formal fundraising round in the coming quarters once core milestones are achieved and early traction validates the model. That said, we remain flexible. If strong momentum or strategic opportunities arise earlier, we are open to accelerating those conversations.

At this stage, we are focused on execution, building, shipping, testing, and solving real problems in-market.