TLDR;
- ChainPal’s crypto payment gateway automatically converts digital currencies to local African currencies, eliminating complexity for merchants.
- AI integration analyzes transaction data to provide business insights on customer behavior and sales patterns.
- The platform prioritizes practical utility over cryptocurrency speculation, solving real African business problems.
In Africa, utility trumps value when the question of adopting digital assets surfaces. A well-designed crypto payment gateway is emphasized more than Bitcoin’s rise to $120K value. The core reason: digital assets offer better financial systems, broader opportunities and a means to tap into the global market. Michael Jimoh, a builder and founder, attests to these facts via his ChainPal platforms, a pioneering crypto gateway designed specifically for businesses seeking seamless integration.
Below is a one-on-one exclusive with the brilliant mind whose innovative ideas made it to the AyaHQ x Lisk Incubation program centred around Founders
The Genesis of ChainPal: Solving Real-World Problems
Michael Jimoh’s blockchain journey began in 2019 with simple Bitcoin trading. “I started with an exchange, basically trading Bitcoin locally, helping people purchase Bitcoin or sell the Bitcoin they currently own,” he recalls.
This exposure to digital money led him down a rabbit hole, piquing his builder instincts into finding out how the technology worked.
“When I started getting more exposed to blockchain technology, it began to trigger my entrepreneurship aspect of life where I got fascinated by the kind of innovations that could come out of blockchain itself,” Jimoh explains.
This fascination eventually led to a key discovering within the space: most blockchain projects were “repeating the same thing” without addressing the core issue.
“I’m a guy always wanting to simplify things,” Jimoh explains.
“So whenever new technology comes out, I’m immediately thinking about simplification of that particular technology to solve specific problems.”
His first project, the Beepo App, focused mainly on simplifying the complexities of blockchain applications to the common man. However, this spurred him to create something that provided more than just information, but a practical solution for businesses: ChainPal.
CHECK OUT: ChainPal Review: The Invisible Wall Between Your Work and Your Wallet.
Solving Real Problems Through Automated Crypto Conversion
For any business to thrive, ChainPal had to take on new steps instead of offering the same thing; they wanted to take away complexities and deliver innovation.
As Jimoh Canonically phrased it:
There’s a difference between existing in the boss bubble and actually utilizing that specific innovation to tackle particular problems. Common Web2 transactions from bank to bank end up costing over 10-15% in fees from the revenue they’re trying to generate.”
The key problem in Africa with digital assets lies with their conversion into local currency. Jimoh revealed his product focuses on solving it. “When we build ChainPal, the goal was to tackle the problem with African commerce—allowing businesses to access these payments. It also removes the friction of conversion which limits the adoption of this technology,” he states.
The platform enables businesses to accept cryptocurrency payments while receiving local currency automatically, without needing to understand blockchain’s complexities.
How ChainPal’s Crypto Payment Gateway Works
The crypto payment gateway operates with a keen focus on simplicity. “A business signs on ChainPal, creates a payment link, connects it to any platform, and shares it with customers. When customers send payments in stablecoins, the business gets payouts automatically.”
The automated crypto conversion system works behind the scenes, selecting the optimal payout corridors based on real-time rates. “We are reducing your need to click buttons. We are working with different payout corridors and our system automatically selects which based on the rate preferences. Once our system detects that a particular payout partner has a preferable rate, it automatically switches”
However, the question of maintaining ample rates is still an issue for most platforms. Jimoh revealed that his platform uses what he termed as “black market rates,” which offer favourable rates than official exchange rates.
AI Integration: The Intelligence Behind ChainPal
AI has become a powerful tool, being the centerpiece for most businesses throughout the Web3 industry. ChainPal’s AI integration extends beyond basic transaction processing.
“Every single merchant with an account on the platform has an agent associated with their profile,” Jimoh reveals. This AI agent analyzes transaction data, providing valuable business insights. “It understands your customers’ data and transaction history, giving you insights on when your customers make payments the most, when your business gets most sales, and regions from which payments come in the most,” he explains.
This intelligence is invaluable to merchants. It’s more like a sophisticated helper going as far as giving insights on where a business should outsource its GTM as a business owner. The AI integration handles fraud detection, financial reporting and automating several services like invoices to specific clientele.
“Based on the data it has, it can help you generate financial reports right from the platform,” Jimoh adds. “The AI also handles AML checks, fraud detection. We tend to create APIs and other SDKs for this AI applicable to existing fintech platforms, or even SaaS applications.”
The Incubation Experience: Refining the Vision
Michael Jimoh was among the few founders to be selected for the AyaHQ and Lisk Incubation program, centred around founders.
“It’s one of the most significant phases of our milestone so far. When the founders are not fully equipped with enough insights, knowledge, exposure, and guidance to handle the vision, it’s difficult for the project to survive,” Jimoh observes.
https://x.com/ChainPalHQ/status/1955542237431074836
Africa has recently experienced a surge of new startups; however, only a few manage to move past the initial stages. The primary cause is attributed to the lack of guidance in deploying and refining their solutions, adapting to the rapid change in blockchain tech.
CHECK OUT: We Built the Tooling We Wished Existed: The Infrastructure Powering Africa’s Stablecoin Boom
‘We experienced pivotal moments where we realized certain things were ambiguous and didn’t need to be implemented. We also observed certain problems that we hadn’t initially thought about,” he shares. This iterative process strengthened both the product and the team’s capacity to execute their vision.
As a blockchain payment solution for businesses throughout Africa, reinventing solutions to cater to local issues created the line between failure and success. A simply crypto payment gateway has to offer more than a means for automated crypto conversion.
A Blockchain Payment Solution for Businesses
As a crypto payment gateway, ChainPal has cracked the code to success by focusing on business needs.
“There’s no specific design for businesses that doesn’t trap them in some complex learning flow or crazy learning curve,” Jimoh points out. “That’s where ChainPal makes the difference.”
It’s a comprehensive blockchain payment solution for businesses, offering AI agents, crypto-to-fiat conversions while adding a layer of security. “You receive payments in cryptocurrency, but you don’t need to log in to do anything. You just get an email notification and your bank account is credited,” Jimoh explains.
“We are not trying to be another crypto platform. It’s a processing platform that helps you convert crypto payments but interacts with you directly in your local currency—your Ghana Cedis, Kenyan Shilling, Naira, or South African Rand,” he emphasizes.
“My vision is an African space where I can walk into a mall and see a payment option to accept crypto, and obviously it’s ChainPal,” he shares. “I could travel to Ghana, South Africa, or Kenya and pay for merchandise using cryptocurrency without looking for currency exchange.”
