Pepper

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  Swap interface

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  Limit order interface

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  Stable coin interface

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  Burn/Redeem stable coin interface

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  Stake interface

Inspiration

One of the primary issues we are tackling is the lack of access to stable, local currencies on-chain. While USD-based stablecoins dominate decentralized finance (DeFi), there is a significant gap in the availability of non-USD stablecoins. This gap limits individuals and businesses from fully utilizing DeFi for their local economic needs.

Another major challenge is the limited access to crypto-backed lending in local currencies. Most crypto lending platforms offer loans in USD or USDC, which poses a problem for borrowers in emerging markets like Africa. Borrowing in USD exposes users to the risk of local currency devaluation. For example, a business in Nigeria that borrows in USDC could face higher repayment costs if the Naira depreciates against the USD. This creates additional financial strain and makes it difficult to manage repayments. The absence of local fiat-backed stablecoins in lending markets further compounds this issue, making it harder for businesses to access affordable credit.

What it does

One of the primary ways we tackle these issues is through our multi-fiat stablecoin ecosystem. By bringing local currencies like the Naira (pNGN) and Ghanaian Cedi (pGHS) on-chain, we enable users to mint and swap stablecoins directly in their local currencies. This provides individuals and businesses access to stable, non-USD pegged digital assets, making cross-border transactions faster, cheaper, and more efficient. Leveraging Base’s low transaction costs (under one cent), Pepper offers on-chain fiat swaps that allow users to send and receive money across borders without the hassle and cost of converting through USD stablecoins. This facilitates easier and cheaper trade for individuals and businesses looking to engage in international markets, promoting growth and creating economic opportunities.

In addition to this, Pepper’s crypto-backed lending feature will allow users to borrow stablecoins in their native currency. Unlike traditional DeFi lending platforms that issue loans in USD or USDC, we will enable borrowing in local stablecoins, protecting users from currency devaluation risks. For example, users in Nigeria can borrow pNGN instead of USDC, avoiding the increased repayment costs caused by local currency depreciation. This solves a major pain point in the current DeFi lending landscape, offering more inclusive and relevant credit options for underserved markets.

Challenges we ran into

Finding partners to work with for fiat onramp was very difficult. As the regulatory system in Nigeria is not very defined or not supportive of crypto related services we ran into the issue of not been able to deliver on our Fiat stable coin solution. We overcame this by building our network with the banking system that would enable us onramp and use P2P for offramping.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We were able to complete the limit order in about 3 days of development

What's next for Pepper

We will continue to build and validate out product our goal is to complete development of all our initial feature offerings and raise funds to continue building.

Built With

• solidity