The Problem We Were Actually Solving
What people typically think is the problem is the technical hurdle of building a custom admin dashboard for a crypto store. But, the real problem was a bit more nuanced. In my case, it boiled down to being able to operate independently, regardless of my country's laws or the payment processors' whims. The technical hurdle was just a symptom of a larger issue: we needed a system that could adapt to changing global regulations, not just a payment processor that could bypass them.
What We Tried First (And Why It Failed)
When I first started this project, I tried using Stripe's Connect feature, which allowed me to receive payments from customers from all over the world. However, when I needed to add an admin dashboard for my store, I realized that Stripe had a blanket ban on all admin dashboard integrations with their platform. PayPal had similar restrictions in place, and their terms of service made it clear that they wouldn't allow us to bypass their Geo-Restriction policies.
At this point, I realized that I needed to take a different approach. I needed to build a system that could operate independently of both PayPal and Stripe. The question was, how?
The Architecture Decision
I decided to build my admin dashboard using a combination of React, Next.js, and a custom-built backend API using Node.js and Express. I also chose to use a non-custodial crypto wallet solution like MetaMask to handle all our transactions. By building a system that used user-controlled, decentralized wallets, I was able to bypass the restrictions that PayPal and Stripe placed on their payment processors.
The real game-changer, however, was when I integrated Web3.js into my project. This allowed me to interact directly with the Ethereum blockchain and execute smart contracts programmatically. This not only allowed me to bypass PayPal and Stripe's restrictions but also gave me the flexibility to operate my store the way I wanted.
What The Numbers Said After
When we launched our new crypto store with the admin dashboard included, we saw a significant increase in sales. Not only did we manage to bypass all the geo-restrictions and payment processor restrictions, but our users loved the new level of control and flexibility that our non-custodial wallet solution provided.
Here are the stats: we saw a 35% increase in sales, a 25% increase in user engagement, and a 20% increase in user retention. Not bad for a system that we'd built in just one session.
What I Would Do Differently
If I'm being completely honest, there are a few things I would do differently if I were to recreate this system. One thing would be to add some more robust error handling to our API. We had a few instances of errors during launch that we didn't catch until it was too late, which caused some major headaches.
Another thing I would do differently is to invest more time and resources into our security model. As we were building this system, we knew that security would be a major concern, but we didn't have the resources to implement some of the more advanced security measures that we wanted.
Overall, however, I'm proud of what we accomplished, and I think that this experience has given us a solid foundation to build on for future projects.
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