Why are you participating for Based Africa?

We're participating because Base is such a supportive community for growth and we want to scale Bitsave to 1,000 in our first Quarter after launch.

What challenges are you focusing on?

We're focusing on solving the impact of inflation on the savings of everyday people in 3rd world countries, through web3.

How does your submission address this challenge?

THE INFLATION CHALLENGE IN NIGERIA EXPLAINED
Between 2023 and 2024 Naira savings have devalued by 50% and is expected to further devalue by 75% in 2025 because of the inflation problem in Nigeria.

The alternative is to save in $, but getting access to the dollar through traditional banks is a chore, you'd have to face queues and also get 3 Domiciliary Account holders to sign off on your form and pay fees before finally creating one.

Finally, users like the GenZ's, Market women & men, farmers, and rural residents aren't able to access the dollar through traditional banking systems.

BITSAVE SOLUTION (simplified)
Bitsave gives;

• Access to the dollar through Crypto Stable Coins and
• Savings Protocol benefits to save and earn for users

With Bitsave, newbies and oldies can protect their funds from market volatility, while still earning interest in crypto, a protocol that works based on maths and economic formulas to set rates and pay interests.

HOW IT WORKS

1. Users typically save in a Stable coin, DAI, USDT or USDC
2. Users earn interest in a volatile token, typically the native token of the Bitsave Protocol.
3. Users can create a savings plan and make unlimited deposits to their savings plan, e.g., "Rent, School fees, Vacation" etc.
4. Users pay a one-time $1 fee per savings plan they create no charge on deposits.
5. Users forfeit a 1% - 5% deduction on their savings when they withdraw before their set date, they determine the penalty fee.

Challenges I ran into

FIRST CHALLENGE WITH ALGORAND
We started development on Algorand in 2022 with only PyTeal and pure TEAL available for building smart contracts. As a SaveFi protocol for crypto savings, Bitsave required features Algorand didn’t yet support, such as structs and efficient data storage.

To overcome this, we created a parent-child contract system where each user had a child contract, and the parent acted as a manager. We used Algorand’s localStorage feature to solve mapping issues, allowing users to “join Bitsave.” Despite this, early storage limitations made it difficult to manage large amounts of savings.

When Algorand released the Beaker framework, the we ported our contract, but soon encountered breaking changes in Beaker v1. After extensive debugging and help from Algorand tools like DappFlow and AlgoKit, we resolved these issues. The focus then shifted to improving the UI, which also required updates to match the latest Algorand features.

2ND CHALLENGE WITH ZETACHAIN

Building Bitsave on Zetachain presented challenges. Initially developed as EVM-compatible, our contracts passed tests on EVM but encountered issues when ported to Zetachain. Cross-chain transactions were slow, sometimes taking hours to confirm, which is impractical for savings. Additionally, the absence of key assets like USDT and USDC during early testing posed hurdles, though they were later made available on the testnet.

Zetachain's specific requirements for cross-chain contracts also lacked detailed documentation, complicating the development process. Despite these challenges, we used EVM-based tools like Hardhat to help our functionalities.

Additional Features

BEFORE THE BUILDATHON
Bitsave UI Design and Maths&Logic were developed before the Buildathon.

Here's a brief of Bitsave progress before the Buildathon:

• Maths and Formula Creation
• Flow chart and Pseudo code creation
• Smart Contract Development
• Launch on Algorand Testnet and UI developments
• Won the Mega-Ace Hackathon Most Impactful Solutions
• Launched on Zetachain Testnet
• Finished Frontend UI
• Won DeFi Category Zetachain Hackathon
• Fixed Contract Opt-In Bug on Algorand
• Started front-end integrations and wallet functions

DURING THE BUILDATHON

1. Deployed our Contracts on Base
2. Finalized our Front-End integrations to 90%