Ankycoin & Payments
Anky uses x402 wallet payments with USDC on Base. No API keys. No subscriptions. No Stripe. No intermediaries.
How It Works
- The user's wallet holds USDC on Base
- For premium features, the user sends USDC to the treasury address
- The transaction hash is passed as the
payment-signatureheader - The backend verifies the transaction on-chain
- The feature unlocks
What's Premium vs. Free
| Feature | Free (Ollama) | Premium (Claude) |
|---|---|---|
| Writing feedback | Local Ollama | Claude |
| Anky image | Flux/ComfyUI local | Gemini + Flux fallback |
| Cuentacuentos | Same pipeline | Same pipeline |
| Facilitator recommendations | Not available | Claude-powered matching |
The key insight: free-tier users get everything, just slower. Their jobs go into a queue and get processed by the local Ollama instance. Premium users get immediate Claude generation.
The writing practice itself — the sacred 8 minutes — is always free. The excuses have a premium lane, but the core is untouched.
Treasury
The treasury wallet address comes from server configuration (TREASURY_ADDRESS env var). All payments are verified on-chain — the backend never holds funds, it only reads the ledger.
Why USDC on Base?
- Stablecoins: No price volatility. $1 is $1.
- Base: Low gas fees, fast finality, EVM-compatible (same wallet derivation as the identity system)
- No intermediaries: No payment processor can freeze the account, charge back, or take a cut
- Programmable: Future features (like paying facilitators directly) can use the same rails