How I turned $1 hockey puck into a payments network with Venmo rewards

I’ve been working on a way to help local businesses. Most are running on razor-thin margins. They either need to cut costs or drive more foot traffic. I’m trying to help them do both.

Here’s the problem:

Every time someone buys a $6 coffee, about 25¢ goes to payment middlemen. That’s a big hit for a café with 5–10% margins.

So I built something simple.

A small NFC puck sits by the checkout. A customer taps their phone → gets a Venmo reward (via USDC). No app to download. No pointless points to collect. Just: Tap. Ping. Reward.

Businesses pick the reward ($0.25–$1) and set the rules. They only pay when someone makes a purchase. It’s free, and they stay in control. Customers love it. Merchants get repeat visits.

The reward is just the start — it builds habit, trust, and a new kind of network.

As this network grows, customers can spend them back at any participating spot. The same puck becomes a payment point. It cuts out Visa/MC rails — no 3% swipe fees.

It runs on stablecoins, but no one has to touch crypto.

Here’s what’s under the hood:

- Hockey puck + NFC sticker (<$1)

- App clip w/ optional app download

- Solana onchain check-ins

- USDC as the reward rail

- Plaid for purchase verification

- Venmo as off-ramp UX

No POS integration. No merchant setup. Just plug and play.

I put all of it — the idea, roadmap, traction — into a short memo.

If you’re an investor, founder, merchant, potential co-founder or just curious — would love thoughts.

Open to intros, critiques, weird ideas. Email me — kunal@trykeychain.com