Apr 18, 2025
Crypto payments have come a long way. Sending money onchain today is more user-friendly, accessible, and cost-effective than ever - but using crypto for in-person payments? Meh. Most crypto payment solutions today still rely on Visa or Mastercard behind the scenes.
At ETH SF, one solo developer, Timothée Delabrouille addressed this gap in the market by creating PayNet, and walked away with a win. PayNet is a payment terminal for everyday purchases. Chain agnostic, it aims to support "any asset, on any chain" while offering today's state-of-the-art for payment: tap-to-pay.
Built on Self, PayNet benefits from a lightweight layer of KYC and human verification - fully privacy-preserving to protect end users.
Curious what sparked the idea? We asked Timothée to tell us more about PayNet - and what’s next.
What inspired you to develop PayNet?
“I have been in the blockchain industry for 5 years now. I focused on building infra: bridges, nodes, libs, and tooling. While the industry has moved forward, I do not see the types of projects I would love to use being built. So I decided to take the matter in my own hands and build a solution for what I believe is still the main use case of crypto: payment.”
When did you decide identity verification was a core pillar necessary to solve for?
“I want to build my solution for the mainstream market, not just for die-hard, hardcore crypto nerds. Which means that as the project establishes itself, I will work to comply with regulations and guidance around how our users’ information is managed.”
Why did you choose Self for the identity layer?
“Our protocol is decentralized, so we don’t want to be the ultimate source of truth for users’ identity information. Self gives us a way for the different nodes in the network to keep a record of a user identity, without them having to fully reveal themself.”
What's your vision for the future of PayNet?
“We want to become THE way of paying with crypto in brick-and-mortar shops. Any chain, any asset.”
Just the beginning?
This isn’t just a demo - it’s a step towards revolutionizing payments.
We’re proud to support builders like Timothée, and projects like PayNet bringing identity, compliance, and composability into everyday payments.
Learn more about Self
Start with our Quickstart docs here.
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Self is a privacy-first identity verification platform designed for Web3 and universal apps.
Securely onboard Web3 users with private, trustless identity verification.
Enable Sybil-resistant polling for fair and transparent governance.
Check sanction lists to ensure compliance without exposing user data.
Facilitate wallet recovery with secure identity proofs.
