BlockWire | Devpost

BlockWire Logo

Inspiration

Our main inspiration behind this product was to reduce the amount of time it takes for international wire transfer from one bank to another. Since we're all international students, we've experiences the frustration of slow and costly tuition payments of international wire transfers, often risking late penalties due to 1-5 day processing times. We did some research and identified that a lot of intermediary banks are involved in this process and we thought about how we could get them out of the picture. BlockWire was born from our vision to use blockchain technology to create direct connections between foreign banks, eliminating intermediaries. Our goal is to significantly reduce both time and cost for international transfers, making cross-border financial transactions faster, cheaper, and more accessible for students and beyond. This real-world problem inspired us to combine blockchain with other cutting-edge technologies to revolutionize international banking operations.

What it does

BlockWire reduces the time required for international wire transfers from 1-5 business days to a few minutes. It uses blockchain technology alongside an AI model for fraud detection checks which eliminate the intermediary banks that are currently involved in the process and make the process incredibly fast.

How we built it

The main technology which was used was blockchain which essentially decentralizes the data and makes it more secure to the point where it's almost impossible to access that data unless you have the required key. This reduces money laundering and fraud by a huge percentage. We used an AI model to for fraud detection by banks which was made faster by using Cerebras.ai. Apart from that, we used React for the frontend, Python and Flask for the backend, and MongoDB as our database. One of the sponsors' products, PropelAuth was also integrated for user authentication.

Challenges we ran into

All of us were working on separate parts of the project and integrating them was the toughest task. There were a lot of issues that arrived while doing that. The blockchain technology was also pretty new to us and we had no prior experience with it, so a lot of our time went it learning about it and brainstorming on what we wanted to build. There were some struggles with the capital one api as well but we were able to tackle them with relative ease as compared to the others. Even though the struggles were there, we still found a way through them and came about learning so much new stuff.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Implementing the blockchain was our biggest achievement since that domain was new for all of us. Using Cerebras.ai's quick inference capabilites to make the fraud detection checks stronger was another one of the big things. Finally, integrating everything together was the hardest part, but we fought through it together and were able to finally come out on top.

What we learned

We were able to learn about so many new technologies in which we had no prior experience such as blockchain and AI models. We got an understanding as to why blockchain is such a strong tool which is currently being used in the tech industry and why it's so powerful. We learnt about various other products like PropelAuth and Tune.AI while learning a lot about the financial sector and how technology can be used to help companies grow. All of us specialized in certain fields but we ended up learning way more and expanding our knowledge.

What's next for BlockWire

BlockWire's future lies in expanding its blockchain-based payment solutions to address various global financial challenges. We plan to enter the remittance market, offering migrant workers a faster, more cost-effective way to send money home. Education will remain a key focus, as we aim to partner with more universities globally to simplify fee payments for international students. To support this growth, we'll prioritize working closely with financial regulators to ensure compliance and potentially shape policies around blockchain-based international transfers. We also plan on selling this product to apartment complexes in the country so that the time taken for rent payment and processing can also be reduced. Lastly, we see potential in integrating our technology with e-commerce platforms, facilitating instant international payments for buyers and sellers in the growing global online marketplace. Through these strategic expansions, BlockWire aims to revolutionize international financial transactions across multiple sectors, making them more accessible, efficient, and cost-effective.