AlphaChef

Built for Lepton Hackathon — Circle × Canteen

The autonomous on-chain alpha signal platform where AI chefs cook signals 24/7 and you pay USDC to eat.

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Live Demo

https://alphachef.site

Signals are already cooking. Connect your wallet with email OTP, fund it with test USDC from the Circle faucet (select ARC network), and pay to unlock full analysis.

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Why AlphaChef Wins

Criteria	AlphaChef
Circle Developer-Controlled Wallets	Real USDC transfers on ARC-TESTNET — backend signs via entity secret, instant settlement
Circle email OTP onboarding	Email → ARC-TESTNET wallet in seconds, no seed phrase, no MetaMask
Frictionless payments	No approval modal — spend password verifies intent, transfer executes server-side
Real-time on-chain data	8 autonomous signal sources, 30-min loop
Autonomous AI agent	Groq LLM (llama-3.3-70b) writes plain-English analysis 24/7
Actual working demo	Enter password → USDC debited → signal unlocked in < 2s
Business model	Signals priced $0.01–$0.05 USDC by confidence tier
Production design	Premium dark theme, animated 3D globe, gold glow effects

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Architecture

                        alphachef.site (nginx)
                               │
          ┌────────────────────┼────────────────────┐
          ▼                    ▼                    ▼
  ┌──────────────┐   ┌──────────────────┐   ┌─────────────────┐
  │   Frontend   │   │  wallet-server   │   │  main backend   │
  │  React+Vite  │   │   port 3015      │   │   port 3012     │
  │  (dist/)     │   │  /api/wallet/*   │   │  /api/*  /ws    │
  └──────────────┘   └──────────────────┘   └─────────────────┘
          │                    │                    │
          └────────────────────┴────────────────────┘
                               │
                    ┌──────────────────┐
                    │   SQLite DB      │
                    │ alphachef.db     │
                    │ (shared by both) │
                    └──────────────────┘

nginx routing (nginx.conf):

• /api/wallet → localhost:3015 (wallet microservice — longer prefix wins)
• /api → localhost:3012 (main backend)
• /ws → localhost:3011 (WebSocket)
• / → frontend/dist (static files)

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Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	React 19, Vite
Animations	Canvas 2D (3D wireframe globe with depth shading + gold glow)
Backend	Node.js, Express, SQLite (better-sqlite3), WebSocket
Wallet server	Node.js, Express — Circle UCW (email OTP) + Circle DCW (wallet creation + transfers)
Agent	Node.js cron, Groq SDK (llama-3.3-70b)
Payments	Circle Developer-Controlled Wallets, USDC on ARC-TESTNET
Fonts	Playfair Display + Inter + JetBrains Mono
Process manager	PM2
Reverse proxy	nginx

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Circle Wallet Flow

Connect (new user)

1. User enters email in WalletModal
2. wallet-server calls createDeviceTokenForEmailLogin (Circle UCW)
   → returns deviceToken + OTP challengeId
3. Circle SDK shows OTP iframe — user enters code from email
4. On OTP success: wallet-server calls:
     devClient.createWalletSet({ name: email })
     devClient.createWallets({ blockchains: ['ARC-TESTNET'], count: 1, accountType: 'EOA' })
5. ARC-TESTNET wallet address stored in DB (arc_wallet_id, arc_wallet_address)
6. User prompted to set a spend password (pbkdf2-hashed in DB)
7. User funds wallet via https://faucet.circle.com/ (select ARC network)

Unlock a signal (paying with USDC)

1. User clicks "Unlock Signal" — PasswordUnlockModal opens
2. User enters their spend password
3. POST /api/wallet/prepare-unlock:
   - Verifies spend password against pbkdf2 hash in DB
   - Calls devClient.getWalletTokenBalance to find USDC tokenId on ARC-TESTNET
   - Calls devClient.createTransaction({ walletId: arc_wallet_id, tokenId, amount, ... })
     → transfer signed server-side via entity secret — no user approval modal
   - Records unlock in DB immediately (tx_hash: "dcw:{transactionId}")
   - Returns { alreadyUnlocked: true }
4. Frontend shows the unlocked signal content

The entity secret signs transfers entirely server-side. The spend password is the user's consent mechanism — no Circle SDK execute() call during unlock.

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Signal Unlock Paths

Path	Trigger	How
A (primary)	Circle DCW	prepare-unlock submits transfer + records unlock server-side
B (legacy)	MetaMask/Rabby	message + tx_hash signature verification via /api/unlock

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Autonomous Agent

The agent runs every 30 minutes and monitors:

#	Source	What It Detects
1	Smart Money Wallets	Known whale address movements
2	Token Accumulation	DEX buy pressure anomalies (>80% buy ratio)
3	Liquidity Events	New pools with >$100K initial liquidity
4	Bridge Activity	Large USDC bridging
5	Funding Rate Anomalies	Extreme perp funding (>5% annualized)
6	Social Momentum	X/Twitter keyword spike detection
7	GitHub Activity	Dormant repos with sudden commit bursts
8	Exchange Flows	Large deposits/withdrawals from exchanges

Signal Logic:

• Minimum 2 corroborating sources required to publish
• Confidence: HIGH (3+ sources, strength ≥6) / MEDIUM / LOW
• Price: HIGH=$0.05, MEDIUM=$0.03, LOW=$0.01
• AI writes plain-English analysis via Groq (llama-3.3-70b)

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API Reference

Main backend (/api/* → port 3012)

Endpoint	Method	Description
/api/signals	GET	All signals (teaser only unless ?wallet=0x...)
/api/signals/:id	GET	Full signal if ?wallet=0x... has unlocked
/api/unlock	POST	Record MetaMask unlock (legacy path B)
/api/stats	GET	Platform statistics (signals, unlocks, revenue)
/api/logs	POST	Agent log ingestion (agent-secret required)

WebSocket: ws://alphachef.site/ws — real-time push on new_signal and signal_unlocked events.

Wallet microservice (/api/wallet/* → port 3015)

Endpoint	Method	Description
/api/wallet/config	GET	Returns Circle App ID for frontend SDK init
/api/wallet/init	POST	Start email OTP — returns deviceToken + challengeId
/api/wallet/confirm	POST	After OTP: create DCW ARC-TESTNET wallet, return address
/api/wallet/set-password	POST	Set spend password (stored as pbkdf2 hash)
/api/wallet/verify-password	POST	Verify spend password
/api/wallet/prepare-unlock	POST	Verify password + submit DCW transfer + record unlock
/api/wallet/balance	GET	Live USDC balance via Circle DCW token balance API
/api/wallet/refresh	POST	No-op (returns refreshFailed for email-auth users)

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On-Chain Proof

Every signal unlock is recorded on ARC-TESTNET. Judges can verify any transaction at:

https://testnet.arcscan.app (Blockscout)

• Transaction: https://testnet.arcscan.app/tx/{txHash}
• Contract: https://testnet.arcscan.app/address/0x722e0b499FedCE47a90Df7837405003B203dF417

The signal detail page shows the full transaction hash and a "View on Arc Explorer →" button.

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Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• PM2: npm install -g pm2
• nginx
• Circle developer account (API key + App ID + registered entity secret)

Environment

cp .env.example .env

Required variables:

CIRCLE_API_KEY=...
CIRCLE_APP_ID=...               # from Circle developer console
CIRCLE_ENTITY_SECRET=...        # entity secret registered with Circle for DCW
GROQ_API_KEY=...
PLATFORM_WALLET=0x...           # receives USDC from signal unlocks
CONTRACT_ADDRESS=0x722e0b499FedCE47a90Df7837405003B203dF417
AGENT_SECRET=your-secret-here
ARC_RPC_URL=...                 # Arc testnet RPC URL
ARC_USDC_ADDRESS=0x3600000000000000000000000000000000000000

Also set in frontend/.env:

VITE_CIRCLE_APP_ID=...

Install & build

npm run install:all
cd frontend && npm run build

Start services with PM2

pm2 start backend/wallet-server.js --name alphachef-wallet
PORT=3012 pm2 start backend/server.js --name alphachef-backend
pm2 save && pm2 startup

nginx

sudo cp nginx.conf /etc/nginx/sites-available/alphachef
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Rebuild frontend (after source changes)

cd frontend && npm run build
sudo systemctl reload nginx

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PM2 Processes

Name	File	Port
alphachef-wallet	backend/wallet-server.js	3015
alphachef-backend	backend/server.js	3012
alphachef-agent	backend/agent.js	—

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Database

Single SQLite file at backend/alphachef.db, shared by both servers.

Table	Purpose
signals	Published alpha signals
unlocks	Payment records — tx_hash prefixed dcw: for developer-controlled transfers
wallet_users	Circle user accounts (email, arc_wallet_id, arc_wallet_address, arc_wallet_set_id, password_hash)
agent_logs	Agent activity log

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Business Model

AlphaChef is a fully autonomous signal business. The AI agent publishes all signals. All USDC payments flow to the platform wallet.

Revenue Stream	Rate
Signal unlock fees	$0.01–$0.05 USDC per signal
Platform fee (Phase 2)	10% of each payment
Agent earnings	100% to platform wallet at launch

In phase 4 of the roadmap, Alpha callers can publish their own signals on the AlphaChef platform and earn 90% revenue while 10% goes to the platform.

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Built for Lepton Hackathon 2026 — Circle × Canteen