Lendstell

Lendstell is a DeFi platform on StarkNet that users lend and borrow assets instantly, with near-zero fees and full transparency. We’re redefining how people access credit in the decentralized economy

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💡 Inspiration

The inspiration behind Lendstell came from a simple observation — access to credit remains unequal and inefficient, even within decentralized finance. Traditional systems are slow, expensive, and exclusive, while most DeFi platforms still face scalability and cost issues. We wanted to build a solution that removes those barriers by offering fast, low-cost, and transparent financial services powered by StarkNet’s zk-rollup technology. Lendstell was born out of the belief that financial freedom should be borderless, enabling anyone, anywhere, to borrow or lend securely without intermediaries.

⚙️ What it does

Lendstell is a decentralized lending and borrowing platform built on StarkNet. It allows users to:

Lend their crypto assets to earn stable yields.

Borrow assets instantly by using other tokens as collateral.

Track real-time market data, interest rates, and loan health through a responsive dashboard. Currently, Lendstell is live on testnet, with mock data integrated via the API, while the smart contracts are fully functional and deployed for early testing and performance optimization.

🏗️ How we built it

Lendstell is built using a modular, full-stack architecture:

Frontend: Developed with Next.js, Tailwind CSS, and ShadCN UI for a responsive and elegant user experience.

Backend: Powered by NestJS, providing a structured API layer (temporarily using mock data during testing).

Smart Contracts: Written in Cairo, deployed on StarkNet testnet, enabling decentralized and transparent lending operations.

Integration: The frontend communicates with the API, which in turn interacts with deployed contracts for lending, borrowing, and collateral management.

🧩 Challenges we ran into

Integrating StarkNet’s evolving developer tools and handling new Cairo syntax updates.

Managing mock data synchronization between frontend and backend while maintaining accurate API responses.

Designing intuitive UX flows for DeFi users while balancing technical complexity and clarity.

Debugging contract interactions due to testnet latency and limited documentation at the time of development.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Successfully deployed functional Cairo contracts on StarkNet testnet.

Achieved a fully responsive and interactive dashboard for lending/borrowing operations.

Implemented secure smart contract interactions through a modular backend.

Built a clean, scalable project foundation ready for mainnet migration.

📚 What we learned

Deep understanding of Layer 2 scalability and zk-rollup mechanics.

How to design smart contract logic for decentralized lending operations.

Importance of test-driven development and modular architecture for complex DeFi systems.

The value of mock integrations in maintaining frontend progress while backend logic matures.

What's next for Lendstell

Integrate live on-chain data to replace mock API responses.

Launch on StarkNet mainnet after full testnet validation.

Add credit scoring and collateral optimization models powered by analytics.

Introduce multi-asset support and cross-collateralization.

Partner with DeFi aggregators and wallet providers to expand reach.

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