Picture this: It’s a sunny Saturday in Lagos, Seyi and I, Temidayo, are at the mall, ready to stock up on groceries. We’re vibing, baskets full, feeling like proper big boys until disaster strikes. My MiFi dies, Seyi’s phone was at home, and we’re out of naira. But guess what? Our wallets are heavy with crypto. Problem is, the mall cashier isn’t about to accept Crypto for our “yam and Indomie”. We’re stuck, sweating on the queue, until a good Samaritan saves the day with some hotspot magic. We use Noblocks to offramp crypto to naira, pay the mall, and escape with our dignity (barely) intact.

That night, over cold Gulder and spicy suya, Seyi drops the bomb: “Dayo, what if we could spend crypto offline?” My head spins, not from the beer, but from the déjà vu. We’d had this exact convo back in January 2024, dreaming of a crypto debit card that could change the game. Back then, we chickened out, thinking, “Who are we to pull this off?” But this time, we’re wiser, hungrier, and armed with knowledge from our adventures. This is the story of why we built Zerocard, a crypto debit card that lets you spend your Crypto like it’s naira, with relatively zero fees and sub-zero speed.

Seyi and I aren’t your typical tech bros. I’m a product designer who’s scaled two startups (one’s a YC darling, the other powers Google’s internal tools). Seyi’s a certified security engineer and cloud architect who can probably hack into Area 51 if he wanted. But developers? Well we could write few lines of code, but can’t raise a PR (joking). Let me just say it wasn’t our forte. Yet, we built Zerocard from scratch, no external help, just us, AI, and a whole lot of grit. I think Gen-Zs call it “vibe-coding” if I am right haha.

Our journey started in January 2024, during one of our Friday night gisting sessions. I pitched the idea of a crypto debit card, something physical, tangible, that makes crypto feel as real as the naira in your pocket. We spent a week analyzing, planning, and dreaming, only to hit a wall when a service provider for another project told us they couldn’t support crypto. Seyi said, “Dayo, let’s not deceive ourselves. We can’t build this.” I hated to admit it, but he was right. We shelved the idea and moved on.

Fast forward to May 2024. We dove headfirst into the Base ecosystem, building, learning, and racking up rewards. It was like drinking from a firehose of knowledge. We built PodX, a creator’s workspace, and that experience was our egusi soup moment, rich, spicy, and life-changing. PodX showed us we could do anything with enough coffee, 24/7 electricity, and turbo internet. The Zerocard dream was back, and this time, we weren’t backing down.

The mall fiasco wasn’t just a one-off. It was a glaring reminder of a bigger issue: crypto in Nigeria is king, but spending it? That’s a whole wahala. Nigeria ranks second globally for crypto adoption, with $59 billion in crypto transactions from 2023-2024. Meanwhile, card payments in 2024 alone hit ₦250 trillion ($155 billion). The numbers are close, but here’s the kicker: less than 29% of Nigerians use crypto for transactions. Most see it as a store of value or investment, thanks to the naira’s devaluation. We wanted to change that.

Our goal? Let users spend crypto like cash. Our mission? Make people see crypto as a currency, not just an asset. Our vision? Be the top crypto debit card infrastructure in the world. We knew the UX had to be seamless, mimicking the ease of swiping a traditional card but better, zero fees, sub-zero speed. Hence, the name Zerocard. It’s not just a card; it’s a vibe, a movement, a middle finger to downtime and excessive bank charges.

Building Zerocard was like climbing Kilimanjaro in flip-flops. Nigeria’s banking regulations around crypto are tighter than a new pair of jeans, but we found a card infra partner willing to challenge the status quo with us or like I would say “Walk the walk, and talk the talk”. Compliance was a marathon, and we are still running the race. Then came the architecture, Seyi’s domain. As a system architect, he’s a wizard, but even wizards face dragons. We battled technical debt, framework incompatibilities, and the occasional “Is this even going to work?” moment. My book of faith reminded us: “If the foundation is faulty, what can the righteous do”  We knew that if people’s money gets lost, we end up in Kirikiri. So, we put our brains on steroids and got it right.

The UX was another beast. It wasn’t just about the digital experience; we had to figure out how users would get their physical cards, how they’d feel holding it, knowing their crypto was as real as the agbada they wore to church (I hate agbadas). I poured my heart into designing a brand and frontend that screamed “trust” and “cool.” Seyi handled the backend, system architecture, and even occasional, he was Chef Seyi, who cooked us eba when we were too deep in code to eat out. AI? It was the MVP, executing and writing code faster than Usain Bolt running the 100-meter.

We set up shop at Notzero Hub, a friendly working hub with ultra-fast internet, endless water (doctor’s orders: no more coffee), and OGs from Google, Flutterwave and Moniepoint who became our unofficial mentors. Nights turned to days, and days turned to “Omo, we’re actually doing this!” But it wasn’t all smooth. Seyi’s idealism clashed with my realism, leading to epic debates that could rival Big Brother Naija drama. Burnouts hit hard, infra costs piled up, and crypto’s volatility didn’t play nice with some frameworks. Still, we kept pushing, fueled by the dream of a card that could make crypto as spendable as suya money.

Zerocard isn’t just a product; it’s a solution to real-world wahala. Here’s why it matters:

• Spend Crypto Like Cash: No internet? No problem. Zerocard works offline, letting you pay for fish at the market or book a flight on Air Peace.
  
  

• Zero Fees, Sub-Zero Speed: Traditional cards charge you like they’re taxing your destiny. Zerocard? Free transactions, faster than Lagos traffic on a Monday morning.
  
  

• Crypto as Currency, Not Just an Asset: We’re activating Nigerians and the world to see Cryto as money they can spend, not just HODL.
  
  With 29% of payments in Nigeria already card-based, we’re tapping into a familiar UX.
  
  

• Physical and Tangible: Zerocard’s physical form gives crypto a realness that digital wallets can’t. It’s like holding your Bitcoin in your hand, ready to flex at the POS.

Zerocard is our love letter to Nigeria and the world. We’re not just building a card; we’re building a future where crypto is as normal as beans in a typical Nigerian home. We dream of a day when you can walk into any buka, swipe your Zerocard, and pay for your pounded yam with Crypto. We’re starting in Nigeria, where crypto adoption is sky-high, but our eyes are on the global stage. With Base Batches as our launchpad, we’re ready to take on the world.