alexsicart

Hi HN! I built Bennu, a simplified DeFi gateway specifically designed for Latin America.

*The Problem*: DeFi is intimidating for most people in emerging markets. Complex interfaces, high minimum deposits, and lack of Spanish support create barriers to financial inclusion.

*The Solution*: Bennu makes DeFi as simple as online banking: • Deposit with card/bank transfer (from $10 USD) • Automatic 8% annual yield through battle-tested protocols (Morpho, Sushi, Vertex) • Spanish interface with 24/7 support • Built on Katana Network (faster, cheaper than Ethereum)

*Tech Stack*: Next.js 15, TypeScript, Firebase, Tailwind CSS, Bridge API for fiat on/off ramps

*Live Demo*: https://bennu.app (demo mode enabled - safe to explore!)

The demo shows the full user journey: onboarding → deposit simulation → yield tracking → portfolio management. All data is simulated for privacy.

*What makes it different*: • Mobile-first design (most LatAm users are mobile-only) • Banking-like UX (familiar patterns instead of DeFi complexity) • Localized for emerging markets • Educational content in Spanish • Low barriers to entry ($10 minimum vs $1000+ elsewhere)

Started as a personal wealth tracker, evolved into a DeFi gateway. The goal is to bring DeFi benefits to underserved markets where traditional banking often fails.

Built solo over 6 months. Planning to expand to other emerging markets if this resonates.

Would love feedback from the HN community - especially on UX, security considerations, and market fit!

A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber.

So, in a private ipfs network (connect to other peers who have a shared secret key) https://github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/blob/master/docs/experimenta.... All the IPFS nodes are connected by default? Each peer pin files from other peers?

Yes, it should take some minutes! I'll add this to new features. Thanks! :)

Yes right now we are using Eternum API for the MVP to pin the content, but the next feature will be pinning in our server. Uploading the file to IPFS (front-end), then from the emai-server, downloading the file from hash to our own server and then connecting it to gateway https://filenation/ipfs/{hash} (everything in the same server to save a lot in bandwidth)

Hi! My name is Alex Sicart and I have been working on a new way to send files using IPFS, so that everyone can benefit from this technology. With FileNation you can already send files in a more secure and efficient way using IPFS, a P2P hypermedia protocol. IPFS can save millions in bandwidth, right now FileNation pins files for free.

1 - Go to https://filenation.io/

2 - Click on Upload Files button. Locate the file that you want to upload and click open.

3 - Click on “Send Files to” and add the recpient email address.

4 - Click on “Your Email” and add your email address.

5 - Click on “Send”.

6 - The file will be added to IPFS and sent to the sender's email, keep page still open until Eternum has finished pinning :)

Try it out and tell me how I can improve it to empower more people with this amazing P2P technology :)