Aura

Aura is the universal gateway to the xStocks ecosystem - spend, earn stock cashback, earn yield and access shareholder perks - all without giving up ownership.

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Inspiration

We wanted to do something consumer facing using xStocks. This is the new financial primitive that will unlock use cases not possible before.

We started with a simple idea for a stock-based neobank (focusing on cashback and collateral payments), but the concept quickly evolved. In our daily lives, we noticed significant inefficiencies within the current stocks ecosystem: Shareholders Benefits Programs. Right now, they are stuck in Web1 era - if you want to join for example the Individual Shareholders club and get upgraded to an ALL Accor Gold loyalty membership (owners of Carlton hotels), the process is very painful. You have to contact Accor, generate a PDF report, send it to them and wait. Furthermore, Accor has to integrate with many different brokerage firms. With xStocks technology, this pain point can finally be solved, allowing any company to easily launch a Shareholder Program.

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What it does

Aura is a next-generation consumer fintech app that turns tokenized stocks into a functional everyday currency while unlocking the world's first real-time, programmable shareholder perks.

We abstract away the complexities of DeFi to deliver a sleek, Web2-grade mobile experience built on three core pillars:

  • Spend Like a Billionaire: Users import tokenized stocks (like $AAPL or $MCD) and instantly spin up a virtual debit card. When they swipe for a coffee or a burger, they aren't forced to sell their holdings. Instead, the app seamlessly borrows against their portfolio in the background to fund the transaction, which can give a huge tax advantage.

  • Stock-as-Cashback: Probably the only app on the internet that makes your portfolio value go up when you spend. We have turned everyday consumption into automated micro-investing. If you buy a meal at McDonald's, you instantly earn your cashback in $MCD stock, creating a gamified loop where spending directly increases your equity.

  • Real-Time Shareholder Perks: Powered by our custom xPerx, we bridge on-chain equity ownership with off-chain Web2 brand loyalty. We replace clunky, legacy shareholder discount programs with instant Card-Linked Offers (CLOs). If you hold 10 $NFLX, your Netflix subscription instantly upgrades to Premium. Sell the stock? The API catches the on-chain state change and instantly downgrades your tier.

Ultimately, Aura is a TVL-generating flywheel that proves holding tokenized equity is the most financially efficient and rewarding way to navigate daily life.

How we built it

High level idea was to build two interconnected products: Neobank (Aura App) and Shareholder Benefit Program Attestations API (xPerks). Two product are build separately and connected together. The whole system is a monorepo with clear separation: mobile knows nothing about blockchain, Aura backend abstracts all on-chain complexity behind simple REST APIs, and xPerx operates as an independent platform with its own auth, database, and contract layer. Everything connects through well-defined API boundaries, and the operator model means users get a normal fintech UX while everything settles on-chain.

How the Payment Flow Works

  1. User taps card → Bridge webhook hits Aura backend
  2. Backend calls EVC.call(borrow USDC) via operator wallet
  3. Single atomic transaction: borrow USDC + mint cashback token + deposit collateral
  4. Transaction recorded in DB with tx hashes
  5. If perk threshold hit → triggers xPerx.claimPerk() for on-chain attestation

How xPerx Verification Works

  1. User claims a perk → XPerxResolver.onAttest() validates balance on-chain
  2. EAS creates immutable attestation → returns UID
  3. Partner verifies anytime via API → XPerxVerifier.verifyPerk() does live balanceOf() check
  4. If balance dropped below threshold → auto-invalid (no on-chain revocation needed)

Infrastructure

  • Docker Compose for local dev (Postgres, Redis, backend services, watcher)
  • Drizzle Kit for database migrations and seeding
  • Foundry for contract compilation, testing, and deployment scripts
  • INK Sepolia with mock Chainlink feeds (production uses real Data Streams for US equities)

Key Architectural Decisions

  • EAS for xPerx attestations: Trustless on-chain proof of shareholder status. OP Stack predeploy on INK means zero deployment cost.
  • Three-layer anti-gaming: holding period before claiming, transfer watcher for instant revocation on balance drop, live balanceOf() check at every partner verification. No pass-the-token exploits.
  • Operator model (EIP-7702): Backend operator pays gas, users never touch wallets. Mobile app feels like a normal fintech product, not a crypto app.

Challenges we ran into

  • Ink-Sepolia was lacking some onchain infra that we needed to mock - DEX and Euler Vaults.
  • Figure out the most optimal way of proving ownership of assets - we ended up using Ethereum Attestation Service
  • Losing 50% of our code, which we had to rebuild due to unfortunate circumstances.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Building the xPerks API from Scratch
  • Abstracting the DeFi Plumbing
  • Creating the "Stock-as-Cashback" Flywheel
  • A Seamless Multi-Environment Demo

What we learned

  • Composability is king. By using robust primitives (xStocks, DEX, Euler) we could use our limited hackathon time entirely on building our unique value proposition: the xPerks middleware and the consumer app.
  • Always ensure the door to your apartment is closed when you leave your laptop there.

What's next for Aura

This is our first MVP. Next step is to sign a deal with Card Provider and create beta version available for testing for initial users. Also we need to make sure which chain and protocols to choose - proper primitives for swaps and lending are needed. After this we can deploy first production version, make sure legal and compliance is fine and start our Go-To-Market marketing strategy. We would love support from Kraken, Ink and xStocks teams to make this happen.

Additionally, xPerx API can grow to separate product that we will be selling to other Neobanks.

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