Overview
Akyba is a way for a group of friends, family, or neighbors to save money together without needing a bank or a treasurer. Everyone agrees to put in the same amount each month, and one person takes home the full pot each round, until everyone has had a turn. Akyba runs the whole thing in software, so no one person is in charge of holding the cash or deciding who gets paid next.
This kind of group savings is older than crypto. People call it a tontine in some places, a tanda in Mexico, a susu in West Africa, or a kye in Korea. Akyba builds it on Cardano, by a small team called Oxalio Labs who are funded through Project Catalyst, Cardano's community grants program. Two flavors are planned: a simple version where the pot rotates from person to person, and a longer version where the group can also vote to lend money out from the shared pot1.
Key Features
- No one runs the group. Members agree on how much to chip in and how often. The software collects the money, holds it, and pays out the pot when it's the next person's turn. No spreadsheets, no cash to track, no one walking around with money2.
- Group-voted loans, if you want them. In the longer version, members can request a loan from the shared pot. The group votes, and the software handles repayment on the agreed schedule1.
- Random fair turn order. When it's time to pick who gets the pot next, the order is set by Cardano's own random number generator. Anyone can check the result, so no one can rig the turn order3.
- Open code, free to inspect. The current version is open-source under an Apache 2.0 license, and the rules behind the pot are written in Aiken, Cardano's smart contract language4.
- Built for real-world saving habits. The team is targeting groups in regions where these informal savings circles are already a normal way to manage money, especially in West Africa4.
What to Expect
Akyba is not finished yet. The app at aikenakyba.web.app is an early prototype, and it asks you for a personal API key from Blockfrost (a service that lets apps read and write to Cardano) before anything will load. Most everyday visitors won't have that, so most of the experience is locked behind it.
Whatever you do on the app right now is happening on a test version of Cardano. That means no real money is at stake. There is no version yet that handles real funds.
If you want to follow along, the Akyba-Protocol GitHub page3 is where the project's documents and early whitepaper live, and the team posts updates on X and Discord. The team has said they plan to keep building even if their grant funding doesn't come through2.
In short, Akyba runs a group savings pot in software instead of a person: the rules every member agreed to are the rules that actually execute. Akyba is an early prototype: built by a small team, running on a test network, and gated behind a Blockfrost developer credential most visitors will not have.
