How we created a payment system to aid refugees, in partnership with SDF and Aid Organizations
Stellar is making money more fluid and helping those who need it most.
Stellar, founded in 2014, aims to empower people and create more open markets by making money more fluid. Users can leverage Stellar to build, send, and trade digital representations of Bitcoin, U.S. dollars, real estate — virtually anything imaginable.
With the Stellar Aid Assist project, the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is using the Stellar network and ecosystem to bring money to those who need it most quickly and cost-effectively.
For example, Stellar Aid Assist delivered digital aid to qualified Ukrainians in need and distributed it directly to their phones. It’s trusted and used by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a U.N. agency working to protect and resettle refugees.
Cheesecake Labs helped Stellar build a stronger, safer, more effective version of their disbursement platform, letting them expand their reach and help people in need with blockchain technologies.
Project acclaimed by the market
Winner of “Most Impactful Blockchain Project" in 2023.
Winner of the "Best Innovation in Digital Currency" in 2023.
Winner of “Best Use of Web3 Technology" in 2024.
The Stellar Disbursement Platform hit a snag when opening up to multiple aid organizations.
Stellar was building the first version of its Stellar Disbursement Platform (SDP), which was already in use by the UNHCR. The SDP is a bulk disbursement tool that organizations can use to distribute funds to people and monitor those funds on the Stellar network.
Stellar wanted to expand the Stellar Disbursement Platform (SDP) to multiple aid organizations but faced a major limitation: its integration with the Vesseo wallet, supported only one instance at a time. Since each organization required its own instance, the platform couldn’t scale.
To solve this, Stellar turned to Cheesecake Labs for blockchain development services. Collaborating with Vesseo, we enhanced the wallet to support multiple organizations simultaneously, enabling Stellar to extend the SDP’s reach and impact.
Building on this success, Stellar set out to create a new version of the SDP designed for broader use cases — from aid distribution to any scenario requiring large-scale disbursements — and partnered with us again to unlock its full potential.
We helped Stellar craft an award‑winning MVP.
Cheesecake Labs’ dedicated team used an extensive range of essential solutions to help Stellar succeed. We helped deliver a solid Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that demonstrates the platform’s entire purpose and new improvements.
The project won important awards, such as “Most Impactful Blockchain Project” at the Paris Blockchain Awards in 2023, and “Best Innovation in Digital Currency” at the Currency Conference 2023.
We used many high-quality solutions while working on the platform’s backend, including a PostgreSQL database with Golang and Python (Django). External tools, like Circle and the Stellar network, proved essential to achieving the ideal outcome, too.
Revolutionizing humanitarian aid with streamlined blockchain payments.
In a new phase of the project, Cheesecake Labs will help Stellar reach a release candidate for this exciting project, so organizations across the globe can use it.
We’re so proud of this project that positions Stellar as an organization working to solve real-world problems with innovative blockchain technologies.
Stellar is leveraging all the benefits of the blockchain to deliver the best solution for disbursing payments to refugees and people in need with a streamlined user experience.
Here’s what Stellar have to say about working with us.
I am impressed at the enthusiasm, genuine care for the customer, and strategic thinking of the team. CKL is not your typical offshoring agency, in that they provide much value added services above and beyond delivering code. They were very helpful with providing insight, feedback, and a customer perspective on the products they were developing.
Karen Chang
VP of Engineering @ Stellar
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