Picture this

Who it is for

Dami is a tax preparer in Ibadan. Answer Desk gives her a page and an x402 endpoint: a person or an agent pays forty cents in USDC to ask, and the money is held until she answers within her stated window, or it returns.

Two ways to own it

What you get

Base$149

$37 deposit to reserve

Expert page, x402 endpoint, held payment with timeout refund, answer inbox, public answer record.

You choose: price per answer
You choose: answer window
You choose: accent color

Customfrom $1,200

Built around you

Reshape it entirely: new features, your flows, your brand end to end, integrations you need. We scope it with you.

Everything in Base
Custom features and design
Priority build

Why it is new

What exists today, and what this does differently

What is new

x402 is mostly used for API and content paywalls. A human expert answer desk with refund on no answer, open to agents, was not found.

Closest things out there

x402 paywalls and API meters; Ask-me-anything paid inboxes like Superpeer off chain.

Checked with web searches in October 2026. A search is not proof that nothing similar exists, and the market moves fast, so we recheck before every build.

What it unlocks

The human in it

Your knowledge earns while agents do the asking.

The Regatta Board

Races it can enter

grant · Base · rolling

Base Builder Grants

rolling, retroactive

Official page ↗

Ecosystem program for shipped apps; check current terms.

Their rule on existing code: Existing shipped projects OK (retroactive)

What you own

The whole app, not a starter kit.

The complete Answer Desk app: an expert gets a page and an x402 endpoint where people and AI agents pay a few cents in USDC to ask, the money is held until she answers inside her window or refunded automatically, with a paywall, owner console and desk helper built in.

Base price · $149

The user app, complete

Every buyer gets the same finished app. Basic branding and copy changes come through a quick form.

Three step onboardingHome

Shown once: you answer for free every evening, a few cents to ring the bell, answer in time or it goes back.

Desk progress and next actionHome

Rules, held, answered and Sunday, with released and refunded totals and a desk activity feed.

Desk rules and scope checkDesk

Price, answer window, people or agents, daily limit and topics, with a live free scope check; away mode gated.

Inbox with held paymentsInbox

A person pays, an agent pays over x402, money held with a window ring, answer to release or automatic refund.

Ledger of releases and refundsLedger

Released and refunded tallies, per question receipts with blocks and answer fingerprints, weekly trend.

Sunday reviewSunday

Weekly streak, pin answers to a public record and agent API keys, both gated behind Pro.

Plans and settingsMe

Plans with crypto checkout, endpoint and reminder settings.

Open the full app demo

Add-on

Owner console

Your admin side: revenue, paywall editor, users, rules and the agent log.

Revenue and paywall editorRevenue

Free desk share, Pro and Firm revenue, payouts, incoming USDC, payment methods and live editing of tiers, prices and gates.

Desk approvalsDesks

Approve real experts, decline desks selling trading calls with profit promises.

Rules, agent log and roadmapRules

Deadline reminders, price ceiling, scope check and guidance line; plus the Agent log and priced Roadmap.

Top-up

Growth and referrals

Referral and growth mechanics, switched on when you are ready to grow.

Agent builder weeks and referralsGrowth

Run an agent builder week, see loops and simulate expert referrals.

The money path, built in

How it earns for you

Opening a desk is free: the app keeps a small share of each released answer. Busy experts pay monthly in USDC to drop the fee and get away mode, a public record and agent keys, and firms pay monthly for several experts behind one bell.

Free desk5% of each released answerOne expert, one topic list, the standard window options

Pro desk8 USDC a monthNo per answer fee, away mode, public answer record and agent API keys

Firm desk30 USDC a monthSeveral experts behind one bell, routing by topic, shared answer record

A scope check is about a tenth of a cent. Hold and release or refund on Base are about a cent combined and can be sponsored. Held money sits in escrow, never with the owner.

Prices are yours to set. Illustrative, not a promise of income.

Growth loops, built in

How it spreads

An open your own desk line on every answer
Agent builders listing desks as human checkpoints
Pinned public answers found in search
The automatic refund promise
Agent builder weeks and expert referrals

Roadmap · build the next phase with us

Where it goes next

v1 included

The full answer desk

Expert page and x402 endpoint
Held payment with timeout refund
Scope check before charging
Answer inbox and ledger
Paywall, owner console, desk helper

Included

Voice and follow ups

Voice note questions and answers
Paid follow up threads
WhatsApp bell
Multi currency display

Add-on from $600

Expert network for agents

Agent discovery directory
Reputation from on time answers
Firm routing and rotas
MCP server for desks

Add-on from $1,500

For investors and grant reviewers

The pitch, ready

A pay per answer inbox where people and AI agents pay a few cents over x402 to ask a real expert.

Problem: Experts answer the same questions for free on chat apps every evening, and AI agents need trusted humans to check what they cannot, with no fair way to charge cents per answer and promise a refund.

Solution: An expert page and x402 endpoint on Base. A free scope check runs first, payment is held in escrow, released with the answer's fingerprint inside the window, and refunded automatically after it.

Why now: x402 lets agents pay over plain HTTP, and Base makes holds and refunds cost about a cent.

Market: Tax preparers, nurses, mechanics and other everyday experts, plus the agent builders who need them.

The ask: A pilot with twenty Ibadan and Lagos experts and two agent bookkeeping tools.

Funding is never guaranteed. Check each program's rules.

For hackathons and demo days

Your 2 minute demo

Home: meet Dami, a tax preparer in Ibadan answering for free every evening.
Desk: 0.40 USDC a question, 24 hour window, people and agents, trading tips never.
Inbox: Kemi pays, BookBot pays over x402, Dami answers and the money releases.
Ledger: Femi's window passes and his refund goes back on its own.
Sunday: hit the Pro paywall to pin answers publicly and pay in USDC.
Owner Agent: off topic agent questions and the wedding weekend, both fixed.
Owner Revenue and Desks: change the Pro price, decline a trading calls desk.
Owner Growth and Roadmap: run an agent builder week, then request voice notes.

Many hackathons require code written at the event. See the Regatta Boardfor each race's rule.

Make it entirely yours

Custom work from $1,200: firm branded desks, other payment rails, agent directory listings or a different chain. Scoped on a call.

Custom from $1,200

BLUEPRINT

Why it matters and how it really works

The need

Experts like tax preparers, nurses and mechanics answer the same questions for free on chat apps every evening, while a growing number of AI agents need a trusted human to check what they cannot. There is no simple, fair way to charge a few cents per answer with a promise of a refund if the expert does not reply.

What exists and what is new

Paid ask inboxes exist off chain (Superpeer style paid DMs and AMA tools), and x402 is already used for API meters and content paywalls. Research did not find a human expert answer desk that is open to AI agents over x402 and holds each payment until the expert answers inside a stated window, refunding automatically if not. Research verdict: medium novelty; the payment rail and the paid inbox each exist, the held payment with timeout refund for people and agents together is the new part.

The data it runs on

The expert's topics, price and answer window; per question a held USDC payment, a deadline, a release or refund transaction, and a fingerprint of the answer. Question and answer text, names and phone numbers stay off chain with the expert.

1.The mission

Let anyone who knows something useful be paid fairly to answer it, by people and by agents, with a refund promise that makes strangers trust each other.

2.Why people can't resist it

Pay only if answered The money is held, not paid. Miss the window and it goes back automatically, so asking a stranger feels safe.

Agents can ask too Any AI agent that speaks x402 can pay and ask, which turns a human expert into a trusted checkpoint for automated work.

Sunday pin A weekly digest shows the questions asked three or more times. Pinning one to a public answer record keeps a streak and cuts repeat work.

3.How it works for real

Expert wallet and page: Privy embedded wallet on Base and a simple page at a short link with topics, price, window and daily limit.

x402 endpoint: POST /ask returns HTTP 402 with the price in USDC on Base. People pay through the page, agents pay by signing the x402 payment and retrying.

Held payment contract: A small escrow contract on Base holds each payment with a deadline. Release needs the desk's signed answer fingerprint before the deadline; after it, anyone can trigger the refund.

Scope check: A cheap model tier (for example Claude Haiku or a comparable small model via OpenRouter) reads each question against the expert's topics before payment is held. Off scope gets a free no.

Answer inbox: A mobile web inbox sorted by time left, with away mode that pauses new questions and warns held askers.

Notifications and record: Push or email when a question lands and two hours before a deadline. Optional public answer record for pinned answers.

4.Cost per use and pricing

Per question: a scope check on a small model is roughly a tenth of a cent; the hold and the release or refund are two small Base transactions, usually around a cent or less combined at typical gas, and can be sponsored by a paymaster. Example month: 250 answers at 0.40 USDC is 100 USDC gross, with roughly 3 to 5 dollars of model and gas cost plus hosting.

Free desk 5% of each released answer

One expert, one topic list, the standard window options.

Pro desk 8 USDC a month

No per answer fee, away mode, public answer record and agent API keys.

Firm desk 30 USDC a month

Several experts behind one bell, routing by topic, shared answer record.

5.Growth loop

Every answered question ends with a small line inviting the asker to open their own desk. Agent builders list desks as trusted human checkpoints, so one integration brings repeat paid questions. Pinned public answers get found in search and lead new askers to the bell.

6.Risks and guardrails

Professional advice rules: Tax, legal and medical answers can be regulated. Desks show a clear general guidance note, experts set their own topics, and the app never presents answers as filed or official advice.

Privacy: Questions can contain personal finances. Text stays off chain and encrypted at rest; only payment and an answer fingerprint go onchain.

Low effort answers: An expert could release funds with a one word reply. Askers can rate answers and ratings show on the desk; repeated poor ratings pause the desk.

Agent spam: Agents can flood a desk. Daily limits, the free scope check and per wallet rate limits keep the inbox human sized.

Contract bugs: The escrow holds funds. Keep it small, audited, with per question caps and no admin withdraw.

7.Build order

Expert page with price, window, topics and daily limit
Escrow contract on Base with release and timeout refund
x402 endpoint for agents and a pay button for people
Answer inbox sorted by time left, with away mode
Small model scope check before payment is held
Weekly digest with pin to public answer record

8.Where this is going

Now
One tax preparer in Ibadan answers paid questions from people and agents with a refund promise.
Next
Firms put several experts behind one bell and agents route questions by topic automatically.
Later
A shared directory of trusted human checkpoints that agents call before they act on money, health or law.
The world it builds
Knowledge held by ordinary experts everywhere earns a fair price, and machines learn to ask a human before they guess.

Costs and tools are estimates at the time of writing. General information only, not legal or financial advice.

OWNER PLAYBOOK

Own it, then chart your voyage

Nine routes from one vessel. Tap a port to open its chart.

Why own Answer Desk

Answer Desk: A pay per answer inbox where people and AI agents pay a few cents over x402 to ask a real expert. Using someone else's version means their rules, their brand and their revenue. Owning Answer Desk means it is deployed under your wallet, carries your name, and every customer, partner and result builds your track record instead of theirs.