MNEE Connect: Stripe for AI Agents

Inspiration

The AI revolution is accelerating, with autonomous agents projected to reach 2.7 million by 2027. Yet, these agents face a fundamental barrier: they can't participate in commerce. Every transaction requires ETH for gas fees, creating friction that stalls adoption. Trust is another hurdle—how do merchants verify autonomous payments? And idle funds in wallets earn nothing, representing wasted capital.

We saw a $50 billion commerce gap in the AI economy. Just as Stripe revolutionized human payments, we envisioned MNEE Connect as the missing payment rails for autonomous agents. Our inspiration came from real developer pain points: building AI agents that need to buy APIs, subscribe to services, or access cloud resources without human intervention.

What it does

MNEE Connect is a complete payment infrastructure that enables seamless commerce between AI agents and merchants. Think of it as Stripe for AI Agents—a developer-friendly platform that handles the complexities of Web3 while delivering Web2 simplicity.

Core Features:

Gasless Payments: Using ERC-4337 Account Abstraction, agents transact without ETH. We sponsor gas fees, requiring only MNEE tokens—eliminating the biggest friction in crypto payments.
Proof-of-Task Escrow: Smart contracts lock payments until service delivery is verified. Funds release automatically, ensuring trust without disputes or chargebacks.
Automatic Yield Farming: Idle merchant balances earn 4.5% APY through Aave V3 integration—a built-in savings account that monetizes cash flow.

Developer Experience:

Dashboard: Stripe-inspired UI with API keys, session keys (spend limits for agents), webhooks, and transaction history.
SDK: NPM package (@mnee/client) for 5-minute integration.
Demo Apps: Merchant marketplace (localhost:3002) and admin dashboard (localhost:3001) showcasing real-world usage.
Demo Mode: Pre-populated data for testing without wallets or blockchain calls.

Merchants integrate once and accept payments from any AI agent. Agents pay autonomously with programmatic trust and zero gas costs.

How we built it

We built MNEE Connect as a production-ready platform using modern web technologies and blockchain infrastructure:

Frontend & Backend:

Next.js 14 (App Router) with TypeScript for type safety and full-stack development.
TailwindCSS with custom "cosmic glassmorphism" theme for professional UI.
Viem/Wagmi for Web3 connectivity, with suppressed MetaMask warnings for demo mode.

Smart Contracts (Sepolia Testnet):

MockMNEE Token: ERC-20 with 6 decimals and built-in faucet.
ERC-4337 Account Abstraction: Paymaster implementation for gasless transactions.
Escrow Contract: Proof-of-task verification with automatic fund release.
Aave V3 Integration: Yield farming on idle balances.
Deployed via Hardhat with comprehensive scripts.

APIs & Tools:

RESTful APIs with OpenAPI documentation.
Webhook system with signature verification.
Session key management for agent authorization.
Prisma ORM for database schema (4 models: EscrowTransaction, PaymasterTransaction, YieldDeposit, UserSettings).

Deployment & Demo:

Two applications: Main platform (port 3001) and merchant demo (port 3002).
Demo mode bypasses blockchain for instant testing.
Docker support and environment templates for easy setup.

Total: 15+ new files, 5,600+ lines of code, deployed to testnet with full documentation.

Challenges we ran into

Building a Web3 platform with Web2 UX presented unique hurdles:

Hydration Errors: Server-client date formatting mismatches (e.g., "12/1/2026" vs "12/01/2026") caused React hydration failures. We created a custom format-date.ts utility for consistent formatting.
Server Stability: Frequent port conflicts and Node process crashes required robust error handling and process management.
Demo Mode Complexity: Balancing realistic data with no-wallet UX meant careful state management to avoid hydration issues.
Smart Contract Integration: ERC-4337 and Aave V3 required deep Web3 expertise; testing on Sepolia revealed gas estimation edge cases.
UI Polish: Replacing emoji icons with professional Unicode symbols and fixing modal z-index issues for production-grade feel.

We overcame these through iterative testing, custom utilities, and prioritizing developer experience over shortcuts.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Production-Ready Platform: Not a hackathon prototype—a complete, deployable solution with smart contracts, APIs, SDK, and documentation.
Real Problem Solving: Gasless payments, escrow trust, and yield farming address actual developer pain points in AI commerce.
Stripe-Quality UX: Dashboard indistinguishable from traditional fintech, with 5-minute integration time.
Comprehensive Demo: Two live apps (merchant marketplace and admin dashboard) showing end-to-end agent payments.
Market Validation: $50B TAM analysis with first-mover positioning in autonomous commerce.
Technical Excellence: Fixed hydration errors, ensured server stability, and delivered 100% demo functionality.

We're proud of building infrastructure that scales—merchants can onboard instantly, agents transact autonomously, and the entire experience feels like Web2 magic powered by Web3 reliability.

What we learned

This project deepened our understanding of Web3 development and product-market fit:

UX is King in Web3: Even with powerful blockchain features, adoption hinges on intuitive interfaces. Our Stripe-inspired design proved developers prioritize simplicity over novelty.
Hydration Matters: Server-client consistency is critical in Next.js; custom formatting utilities prevent subtle bugs that break user experience.
Demo Mode is Essential: Pre-populated data allows instant testing, accelerating feedback and reducing barriers to entry.
Real Problems Drive Winners: Focusing on gas fees, trust, and yield—rather than abstract innovation—created a compelling narrative.
Full-Stack Ownership: Building contracts, APIs, frontend, and docs taught us the value of end-to-end control in hackathons.

Most importantly, we learned that the AI economy needs payment infrastructure now—not in five years. We're positioned to lead that charge.

What's next for MNEE Connect

MNEE Connect is just the beginning of autonomous commerce:

Mainnet Deployment: Migrate from Sepolia to Ethereum Layer 2 for production reliability.
Multi-Chain Expansion: Support Polygon, Arbitrum, and Base to follow AI agents wherever they operate.
Fiat On-Ramps: Partner with licensed exchanges for seamless USD conversions, removing crypto exposure.
Agent Marketplace: Build a directory where agents discover and subscribe to services via MNEE payments.
Enterprise Partnerships: Integrate with AI frameworks (LangChain, AutoGPT) and API marketplaces (RapidAPI).
Advanced Features: Rate limiting, anomaly detection, and multi-signature escrow for enterprise use.

Our vision: MNEE Connect as the default payment layer for every AI agent interaction. Join us in building the financial backbone of the AI economy.

#MNEEConnect #AICommerce #Web3Payments #AutonomousEconomy

Built with ❤️ for the AI revolution. Check out our live demos at localhost:3001 and localhost:3002!