Gimme: Micro-Transactions for Everyone
Gimme is a decentralized marketplace for micro-transactions that lets anyone turn mobile airtime or data into a virtual debit card–like balance.
It runs on blockchain under the hood but the experience is as simple as using a regular mobile wallet.
What was the problem?
Most fintech and crypto apps are designed for large payments and tech-familiar users.
But everyday people and small merchants often need to send or receive very small amounts — quickly, informally, and without long setup.
People wanted to perform simple micro-payments — but existing apps were too complicated, required banking, and had too many onboarding steps.
Who We Designed For
Everyday people with just a phone number
Small / informal merchants (food vendors, bike taxis, neighborhood services)
Anyone who needed to send very small payments instantly
Our core idea
Instead of making users learn blockchain, we hid the blockchain entirely.
Users interact with Gimme credit, which feels like airtime or a digital voucher, but is powered by a token system underneath. Thereby making the experience feel familiar but the blockchain tech works in the background
Funding the wallet
Users can add balance through Airtime, Data bundles or Bank card (optional, not required)
Sending / Paying
Users send money:
To friends (via phone number or username)
To merchants (same flow)
Offline: Receiver gets an SMS token they can redeem later via merchant / POS agent
Design decisions
Familiar wallet patterns:
Sending & receiving flows were modeled after simple mobile fintech apps to reduce learning effort.
No blockchain jargon:
We intentionally avoided terms like “wallet keys,” “gas fees,” etc. Users see credit, not crypto.
Two-tier feature set: This serves both everyday users and power users without overwhelming the first-time experience.
Core: Fund · Send · Withdraw
Advanced: P2P · Marketplace
Expected impact
Early demos showed strong validation for Gimme’s core ideas:
50%+ of testers preferred funding with airtime/data over card payments.
The Send/Pay flow felt ~2× simpler than typical crypto wallet experiences.
The familiar wallet-style onboarding helped users understand the system with minimal explanation.
Stakeholders highlighted offline redemption as a high-value feature with strong real-world usefulness.
These signals indicate that Gimme can deliver a smoother, more accessible micro-transaction experience even for users unfamiliar with fintech or blockchain.
Next steps
Follow up with engineers to ensure the finalized MVP are launched properly, get feedback from live users, and find more ways to simplify our solution to serve our users.
