Goodbye Middlemen: How I Built an Open-Source, Bankless Donation Widget for the Dev Community

Description and use

DonateX is a 3 KB donation button that works on Base with USDC, offering zero fees, no KYC, and no bank accounts, enabling developers in emerging markets to receive donations directly into their wallet.

Problem

Open‑source maintainers rely on Stripe/PayPal for donations, but those platforms require identity verification, bank accounts, and charge 2.9‑3.49% fees, making them inaccessible to developers in emerging markets.

Outcome

DonateX enables crypto‑native donations with zero fees, no KYC, and instant settlement, making it possible for maintainers in emerging markets to receive funds directly to their wallet.

Workflow

• Add a single script tag to the site’s HTML
• Widget injects a donation button (default bottom‑right)
• Visitor clicks button → modal opens with QR code and wallet connect
• Visitor connects MetaMask (or any Base wallet) and selects amount
• Widget sends ERC‑20 USDC transfer on Base
• Widget polls for transaction confirmation (~2 s)
• Donation is verified on‑chain and visible on BaseScan

Evidence

DonateX is a 3KB donation button that accepts USDC on Base Network. Zero platform fees. Zero KYC. Zero bank accounts required. One line of HTML.

Source

Gas costs ~$0.001. Settlement is instant. The maintainer receives USDC directly to their wallet.

Source

The entire widget is 3KB of vanilla JavaScript. No dependencies. No build step.

Source