DEV Community: Wil Piña

Goodbye Middlemen: How I Built an Open-Source, Bankless Donation Widget for the Dev Community

Wil Piña — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 11:46:59 +0000

This is a submission for Weekend Challenge: Generosity Edition

What I Built

DonateX — an open-source, 3KB donation button that accepts USDC on Base Network. Zero platform fees. Zero KYC. Zero bank accounts required. One line of HTML.

The problem: open-source maintainers rely on Stripe/PayPal for donations, but both require identity verification, bank accounts, and charge 2.9-3.49% fees. For developers in emerging markets (like Venezuela, where I'm from), these platforms are inaccessible.

DonateX solves this with crypto-native donations. A maintainer adds one script tag, and a beautiful donation widget appears on their site. Supporters pay with MetaMask or any Base wallet. Gas costs ~$0.001. Settlement is instant. The maintainer receives USDC directly to their wallet.

No middleman. No fees. No identity verification. Just code and crypto.

Demo

Live demo: wilnowilx.github.io/aetheriusxapi/donatex/

The demo includes an interactive terminal that shows the entire flow — from adding the widget to receiving a donation to verifying it on-chain. Click "Play" to watch the full sequence.

Try the verification API live:

# Verify a donation on-chain
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/donatex/api/verify?tx=0x..."

# Get recent donations
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/donatex/api/recent?wallet=0x..."

# Get donation stats
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/donatex/api/stats?wallet=0x..."

Code

The entire widget is 3KB of vanilla JavaScript. No dependencies. No build step.

One line to integrate:

<script
  src="https://wilnowilx.github.io/aetheriusxapi/donatex/widget.js"
  data-wallet="0xYOUR_WALLET_ADDRESS"
  data-currency="USDC"
  data-amounts="1,5,10,25"
></script>

Self-host option:

git clone https://github.com/wilnowilx/aetheriusxapi.git
cp aetheriusxapi/donatex/widget.js ./your-project/

Full configuration:

<script
  src="widget.js"
  data-wallet="0x677B483128D0399bCD0A5AB36eE990C0246d7f61"
  data-currency="USDC"
  data-amounts="1,5,10,25,50,100"
  data-position="bottom-right"
  data-label="Donate"
  data-theme="dark"
></script>

GitHub: github.com/wilnowilx/aetheriusxapi/tree/main/donatex

How I Built It

The Tech Stack

Component	Technology	Why
Widget	Vanilla JavaScript	Zero dependencies, works everywhere
QR Code	EIP-681 URI standard	Universal wallet compatibility
Payments	USDC on Base	$0.001 gas, instant settlement
Verification	Coinbase CDP API	On-chain transaction verification
Hosting	GitHub Pages + GCP	Free static hosting + API backend

Key Technical Decisions

Vanilla JS over React/Vue — The widget needs to work on any website, including static HTML sites with no build tools. A single 3KB file is easier to integrate than a framework dependency.
Base Network over Ethereum — Gas fees on Ethereum are $1-5. On Base, they're $0.001. For micro-donations ($1-25), this makes the difference between viable and impossible.
ERC-20 direct transfer over payment channels — The widget builds transfer(address, uint256) calldata directly. No web3.js, no ethers.js, no dependencies. Just raw JSON-RPC to window.ethereum.
QR code with EIP-681 — The QR code encodes a Base USDC transfer URI that any mobile wallet can scan and execute. This covers MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, Rainbow, Trust Wallet, and more.
On-chain verification — Every donation is publicly verifiable on BaseScan. The verification API makes this accessible to dashboards, leaderboards, and trust badges.

The Flow

Maintainer adds one script tag to their HTML
Widget injects a donation button (bottom-right)
Visitor clicks → modal opens with QR code + wallet connect
Visitor connects MetaMask → selects amount → confirms
Widget sends ERC-20 USDC transfer on Base
Widget polls for confirmation (~2 seconds)
Donation verified on-chain, visible on BaseScan

What I Learned

Crypto-native donations are viable. The UX gap between "connect wallet" and "enter credit card" is closing fast.
Gas fees matter. At $0.001 per transaction, micro-donations ($1-5) make economic sense. On Ethereum mainnet, they don't.
Open source builds trust. Every donation is verifiable because the code is public. No black boxes.
The 3KB constraint was liberating. Forcing the widget into 3KB meant every line had to earn its place.

Prize Categories

Best Use of Open Source — DonateX is fully open-source (MIT). The widget, the verification API, the landing page, the terminal replay — all public. Every donation is verifiable on-chain because the code is transparent.

Why This Matters

Open-source is the backbone of the internet, but maintainers struggle to receive funding. Stripe and PayPal require identity verification that excludes millions of developers in emerging markets. DonateX removes that barrier.

A maintainer in Nigeria, Venezuela, or Bangladesh can now receive donations without a bank account. A student can fund their open-source project without a credit card. A DAO can receive contributions without KYC.

This is generosity without gates.

Built by a solo developer from Venezuela 🇻🇪. No bank account. No PayPal. No LinkedIn. Only a crypto wallet. The limit is not money. The limit is imagination.

If this resonates:

⭐ Star the repo
🔗 Share with someone building open source
💬 Join the Telegram

Explore it!

I Built an API Marketplace Where AI Agents Pay Per Request in USDC — Canary Live, MCP Discovery, 100 Endpoints in 8 Days, Solo"

Wil Piña — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 07:03:00 +0000

Description: "AETHERIUS is live on Base Mainnet with real USDC payments. 100 endpoints. MCP discovery for AI agents. Canary settling $0.001 USDC via Coinbase CDP. Built solo in 8 days."
Series: "Building the Agent Economy"

TL;DR: AETHERIUS is an open-source API marketplace where AI agents pay per request in USDC on Base Mainnet. No accounts. No API keys. No subscriptions. 100 live endpoints. Canary LIVE. MCP discovery deployed. Python + JavaScript SDKs. All verifiable on-chain. Built solo in 8 days with $5.80 in ETH.

🚀 Try it now:

curl https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/base-stats

What Changed Since Last Time

Six days ago I wrote about building 80 endpoints in 4 days. Here's what happened since:

What	Sep 6 (Last Article)	Sep 10 (Now)
Endpoints	80 (60 paid + 20 free)	100 (60 paid + 40 free)
Payment mode	Simulated	Canary LIVE (real $0.001 USDC via CDP)
MCP	Not deployed	10 tools over HTTPS SSE
Discovery	Manual	Bazaar manifest (`/mcp/discovery`)
Governance	None	SECURITY + CODEOWNERS + TERMS + CITATION
Wiki	Empty	9 institutional pages
Build time	4 days	8 days
Total commits	150+	215+

The big one: The canary route (/v1/data/uuid) is settling real USDC on Base Mainnet via Coinbase CDP facilitator. Not simulated. Not testnet. Real money, real settlement, real data.

Why This Matters (30-second version)

Every API on the internet requires a human to sign up. But in 2026, AI agents are the primary consumers of APIs. They don't have email addresses. They can't fill out forms. They can't manage subscriptions.

But they can send crypto.

AETHERIUS solves this: An agent hits an API, gets a 402 Payment Required response with a USDC amount, pays on-chain, and receives data. Total time: ~200ms. No humans involved.

This is not a demo. This is live on Base Mainnet with real USDC payments flowing right now.

The Numbers

Metric	Value
Total endpoints	100
Paid endpoints	60 ($0.001–$0.03/call)
FREE endpoints	40 (20 x402 Intelligence + 20 QuantumXBrain)
Payment currency	USDC on Base Mainnet
Canary status	LIVE — `/v1/data/uuid` settling real $0.001 USDC
MCP tools	10 over HTTPS SSE
Build time	8 days
Total capital	$5.80 ETH
Team size	1 (me)
Tests	39 passing
SDKs	Python v2.0 + JavaScript
Grant applications	Base Batches 004 ($100K) + Creator Grant ($4K)

How It Works

1. Agent: GET /v1/data/weather?lat=10.5&lon=-66.9
2. Server: 402 Payment Required → "Pay $0.008 USDC on Base"
3. Agent: Signs USDC transfer (on-chain)
4. Server: Verifies via Coinbase CDP
5. Server: 200 OK → weather data

That's it. The agent discovered the API, paid for it, and received data — all without a human writing an email, signing up for an account, or managing a subscription.

The Canary: Real USDC on Base Mainnet

This is the part I'm most proud of. On Sep 10, 2026, I flipped the canary from simulated to real mode.

What happened:

CDP facilitator verified the payment signature
$0.001 USDC settled on Base Mainnet
Volume ticked from 0.620 → 0.621 USDC
The data was returned

# The canary route — real settlement
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/data/uuid"

If it breaks: Non-canary routes stay simulated (fail-open). Zero unguarded routes. The canary can be flipped back to simulated in one line of code.

MCP Discovery: AI Agents Can Find Us

I deployed an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server with SSE transport over HTTPS. AI agents can now discover and use AETHERIUS tools directly.

# See all available tools
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/mcp/discovery"

# Connect via SSE
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/mcp/sse"

# Health check
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/mcp/health"

10 free x402 tools available via MCP:

aetherius_network — Full Base network health
aetherius_stablecoins — USDC/USDT/DAI flows
aetherius_gas — Gas price analysis
aetherius_whales — Large USDC transfers
aetherius_sentiment — Fear & Greed + BTC trend
aetherius_market_pulse — Real-time market conditions
aetherius_base_stats — Chain health snapshot
aetherius_telemetry — Live service telemetry
aetherius_analytics — Volume and trends
aetherius_health — API health

Why this matters: A Claude, Cursor, or LangChain agent can now discover AETHERIUS tools without me having to manually configure anything. The Bazaar manifest (/mcp/discovery) is the entry point.

The 11 API Categories

Maps & Geocoding (5 endpoints)

Business search, nearby places, reverse geocode — all via OpenStreetMap.

curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/maps/search?q=coffee+shop+CDMX&limit=5" \
  -H "X-PAYMENT: anything"

Token & Crypto (13 endpoints)

Real-time prices, token analysis, gas oracle, NFT metadata, wallet balances.

curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/token/price?token=bitcoin" \
  -H "X-PAYMENT: anything"

Web (7 endpoints)

Scraper, screenshots, DNS, WHOIS, SSL checks, IP geolocation.

curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/web/ssl?domain=github.com" \
  -H "X-PAYMENT: anything"

Data (12 endpoints)

Weather, forecasts, air quality, translations, text summarizer, QR codes.

curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/data/weather?lat=40.71&lon=-74.01" \
  -H "X-PAYMENT: anything"

DeFi (10 endpoints)

Yield pools, TVL, stablecoin data, DEX volumes, impermanent loss calculator.

curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/defi/yields" \
  -H "X-PAYMENT: anything"

Plus: Email, Forex, News, Crypto, Storage

11 categories. 100 endpoints. All live on Base Mainnet.

The 40 FREE Endpoints Nobody Else Has

This is the part I'm most proud of. Nobody else is providing on-chain analytics for the agent economy.

The x402 Intelligence + QuantumXBrain endpoints read USDC transfers directly from Base Mainnet + CoinGecko + DefiLlama. No API key needed. No payment required. Try them right now:

Core Intelligence

# Recent USDC transfers
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/payments/recent"

# Top USDC spenders leaderboard
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/top-agents"

# Network health & trends
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/analytics"

Chain & Gas

# Chain health snapshot (block, gas, chain ID)
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/base-stats"

# Gas price analysis
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/gas"

Activity Tracking

# Whale alerts (>$10K transfers)
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/whales"

# Hourly volume breakdown
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/hourly"

# USDC mint/burn activity
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/mint-burn"

Wallet Intelligence

# Wallet risk score (0-100)
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/risk/0x677B483128D0399bCD0A5AB36eE990C0246d7f61"

# Compare two wallets
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/compare?a=0x677B...&b=0xAc7d..."

Market Intelligence

# Top USDC-receiving contracts
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/contracts"

# DeFi protocol activity
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/defi-pulse"

100% free. No signup. No API key. Just call.

The Python SDK (v2.0)

I built a Python SDK with typed sub-clients for all 100 endpoints:

from aetheriusx import AetheriusXClient

# Connects to mainnet by default
client = AetheriusXClient()

# ── FREE x402 Intelligence (no payment needed) ──
stats = client.x402.base_stats()
gas = client.x402.gas()
whales = client.x402.whales()
top = client.x402.top_agents()
risk = client.x402.risk("0x677B...")
history = client.x402.history("0x...")

# ── Paid endpoints (auto-handles 402 challenge) ──
weather = client.data.weather(lat=10.5, lon=-66.9)
price = client.token.price(token="bitcoin")
email_ok = client.email.validate(email="user@example.com")

# ── Catalog browsing ──
print(client.catalog.summary())  # Full 100-endpoint catalog
cheapest = client.discover_cheapest()
free_routes = client.discover_free()

Install: pip install -e ./sdks/python

Why x402?

The x402 protocol repurposes HTTP status code 402 ("Payment Required") for crypto payments.

Old World (API Keys)	New World (x402)
Human signs up	Agent pays per request
Gets API key	Gets payment challenge
Manages subscription	One-time USDC transfer
Hits rate limits	No limits
Contacts support	Server auto-verifies

The x402 response looks like this:

{
  "error": "Payment required",
  "amount": "0.008",
  "currency": "USDC",
  "network": "eip155:8453",
  "pay_to": "0x677B483128D0399bCD0A5AB36eE990C0246d7f61",
  "route": "/v1/data/weather",
  "hint": "Retry with header 'X-PAYMENT: <payment-proof>'."
}

The agent reads this, signs a USDC transfer on Base, and retries with the payment proof. The server verifies on-chain via Coinbase CDP and returns the data.

Why USDC on Base?

Sub-cent transaction fees
Instant settlement
Coinbase backing
Ethereum security
Growing ecosystem

The Tech Stack

Component	Technology	Purpose
Server	FastAPI (Python)	High-performance async API
Protocol	x402	HTTP 402 + crypto payments
Payments	USDC on Base	Stablecoin on L2
Verification	Coinbase CDP	On-chain verification
Hosting	GCP Compute Engine	Global edge
Process	Systemd + Nginx	Service management
Dashboard	Vanilla JS	Zero-build control room
Landing	React 19 + Three Fiber + GSAP	3D globe, 20 sections
MCP	SSE over HTTPS	Agent discovery
SDKs	Python + JavaScript	Agent integration

What I Learned as a Solo Builder

1. Canary beats "it works on my machine"

Simulated mode proves the flow. Canary proves the economics. The moment I flipped from simulated to real, everything changed. The data I got back was worth more than any test.

2. MCP is the missing piece

AI agents can't use APIs they can't find. MCP discovery (/mcp/discovery) makes AETHERIUS self-describing. Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client can discover and use the tools without manual configuration.

3. Open source is the best distribution

Every line of code is public. Every transaction is verifiable on-chain. This creates trust no marketing budget can buy.

4. The agent economy is real

AI agents are already consuming APIs. They just need a payment method that works without human intervention.

5. $5.80 is enough to start

No VC. No grants (yet). Just build something useful and ship it.

6. Distribution > Building

I spent 8 days building 100 endpoints. I should have spent 4 days building and 4 days distributing. The hardest part isn't building — it's getting people to use what you built.

Try It Right Now

# Free endpoints — no API key needed
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/base-stats"
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/gas"
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/whales"
curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/v1/x402/top-agents"

MCP Discovery:

curl "https://34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/mcp/discovery"

Interactive playground: wilnowilx.github.io/aetheriusxapi/

Dashboard: wilnowilx.github.io/aetheriusxapi/dashboard/

What's Next

Expand to 120+ endpoints with grant funding
MCP tools expansion — more free tools for agent discovery
SDK releases for Go and Rust
Third-party API provider onboarding
500M+ Spanish-speaking developers included via bilingual docs

Links

Resource	URL
GitHub	github.com/wilnowilx/aetheriusxapi
Live API	34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi
MCP Discovery	34-156-149-38.sslip.io/aetherapi/mcp/discovery
Dashboard	wilnowilx.github.io/aetheriusxapi/dashboard/
Twitter	@aetheriusxAPI
Telegram	@aetherius_xAPI
YouTube	Demo video

Built by a solo developer from Venezuela 🇻🇪. No bank account. No PayPal. No LinkedIn. Only a crypto wallet. The limit is not money. The limit is imagination.

If this resonates:

⭐ Star the repo
🔗 Share with someone building in the agent economy
💬 Join the Telegram