Building the First Open-Source Smart Contract Wallet on Stellar Network
Here at Cheesecake Labs, we’ve been working with the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) for over five years.
We’re proud to partner with the SDF as it works toward its mission: creating equitable access to the global financial system through blockchain technology.
Our partnership has already delivered a revolutionary payment system design for refugees (Stellar Aid Assist) along with an ever-growing list of unique and innovative projects. So, when the SDF asked for our help with a brand new, never-before-seen event application, we jumped at the challenge.
From Stellar’s bold blueprint...
SDF was looking ahead to the next installment of its annual Meridian event, taking place in Rio de Janeiro. The theme of Meridian 2025 was The Blueprint, and over 1,000 blockchain visionaries were expected to attend over two days, setting the course for the next decade of digital finance.
SDF wanted to create a blockchain-powered app for attendees of their 2025 flagship event, to:
Showcase Stellar’s full capabilities
and the new possibilities of Stellar’s blockchain.
Provide attendees with a seamless experience of Stellar’s wallet,
payments, NFTs, and tokens in real-time.
Facilitate all event interactions at scale
(becoming the only supported method of payment on-site across the two-day event)
This type of app was a brand new concept, making it the perfect idea for a conference all about outlining a new blueprint for blockchain’s potential.
Key challenges
Creating a first-of-its-kind blockchain-powered application to be used at scale by event attendees on a global and public stage.
The project required both a user-facing application (wallet + interactions) and a back-office administrative app.
…To launch and beyond (how we brought Meridian Pay to life)
As an experienced Stellar partner, Cheesecake Labs was well-positioned to deliver:
Blockchain development
(specifically Stellar smart contracts)
Full-stack web development
(frontend and backend)
Product strategy and design
DevOps automation
Your NFT is ready!
Claim your session NFT! You can view it in your wallet and use it to track your session attendance.
With deep expertise in Stellar’s network — and a proven track record with other Stellar wallets, including MoneyGram NCW, Vesseo, and Akuna — a dedicated team within Cheesecake Labs got to work on both the attendee-facing app and the back-office portal.
The outcome was Meridian Pay, a browser-based smart wallet that connects to the Stellar network in just two taps.
Meridian Pay highlights
Passkeys for authentication,
creating a streamlined, secure login that helps drive adoption.
NFT and token handling
in the same smart wallet.
DevOps automation
for code quality checks and smooth deployments.
Stellar smart contracts
for real-world utility.
Prioritizing usability to get users on board
Why wasn’t Meridian Pay an app when that’s what the SDF’s brief initially asked for?
We knew that most users resist downloading apps for short-term use cases like industry events. So, we made it possible to access Meridian Pay with just a browser and a passkey. No user passwords or lengthy sign-up processes required. This emphasis on usability made Meridian Pay widely popular with attendees, and over 1,000 users were onboarded during the event.
Just because Meridian Pay is a web app doesn’t mean it lacks in features or functionality. Meridian Pay delivered against all smart wallet expectations: balances, transfers, and collectibles.
It had both NFT and token support capabilities and included bonus features for Meridian, like swag redemption, and integrated with the event’s custom selfie machines.
Open source for the Stellar community
Meridian Pay is fully open source, enabling anyone to explore, adapt, and build on its foundation — a blueprint for blockchain innovation, you could say.
This open-source nature aligns with the SDF’s North Stars. As an open source tool, Meridian Pay serves as a demo and learning platform for developers exploring the potential of Stellar in digital finance, helping close the access gap.
Contributions, forks, and innovative uses of the smart wallet’s code (available here) are welcome from any industry and any use case. After all, the Stellar Development Foundation is committed to open innovation and strengthening the Stellar ecosystem (just like we are at Cheesecake Labs!)
Key technologies.
Stellar blockchain
Rust for Stellar
smart contracts
React (frontend)
Node.js (backend)
Retool (low-code
platform for admin tools)
Thousands of transactions in just 2 days
Meridian Pay was a hit at the event, with:
0+
users onboarded
0+
NFTs collected
0+
XLM disbursed
The roadmap was ambitious — this was a super-fast turnaround and a hard deadline to meet. But as we’ve seen before in our collaborations with the SDF, blockchain can be used to achieve ambitious ideas when the right team comes together.
Meridian Pay is proof of the Stellar blockchain’s real-world scalability and has inspired the Cheesecake Labs team to explore the ongoing potential of flagship blockchain experiences.
Here’s what Stellar have to say about working with us.
Cheesecake Labs' ability to take on challenges that no one had faced before was impressive. This was the first implementation of its kind, with many different features on this network. Still, they were able to put everything together into a unified product. Some engineering teams would be scared away by that or take a cautious approach. However, they took on the challenge and were very excited about it.
Tori Samples
Director of Product @ Stellar Development Foundation
Cheesecake Labs is your go-to partner for blockchain innovation.
Dream big and trust Cheesecake Labs to deliver. Our expert team continues to redefine what’s possible with blockchain technology. Get in touch to discuss your ideas.
