Hello! 👋 My name is
Melvin Wafula
|
I build backend systems for digital assets and digital health. In both, a wrong record costs someone their money or their care.
Bmscis
About
I'm a backend engineer in Nairobi, and I came to software by an unusual route. I wrote and directed film, produced music for a few years, and sold bancassurance at KCB in 2022, the same year I started writing smart contracts for a living. Python at university was where the habit started.
Most of my work since then has been with digital assets. I've built lending platforms, NFT marketplaces and a bitcoin on-ramp. The Goanna lending platform I maintain now handles over $10,000 in loans a month. Working on systems where a bug loses someone's money changed how I build. I assume any payment can fail halfway, so each one is safe to retry, and I trust the ledger over my own database when they disagree.
In 2025 I started on digital health. I'm building a registry for kidney patients in Kenya, and I'm turning the national kidney guidelines into a WHO SMART Guideline, the format WHO uses to make clinical guidance usable by software. A patient record and a loan record need the same things: a clear history, strict access and a standard format that other systems can read.
I also founded PentacostAi. Its first product, AlgoCity, is a city-trading game that's live on Algorand MainNet. I'm looking for senior backend roles in digital assets or digital health, remote or in Nairobi.
Experience
2026 – Present · Nairobi · Remote
Founder & Lead Engineer · PentacostAi
My own studio. The first product is AlgoCity, a four-player city-trading game on Algorand MainNet in which AI agents can take a seat.
- Wrote the six Algorand Python smart contracts behind the game (game, factory, deeds, rules, treasury and swap pool), the Next.js client, and a keeper worker that runs on Fly.io.
- Built a paid x402 endpoint for the Algorand x402 Global Challenge. A player pays once in USDC and gets a game table. If the table fails to open, the payment never settles, and one payment can't open two tables.
- Every state change goes through a contract that checks it. The database and the UI only display what the chain says.
- Each contract has a written spec and a cost proof measured from real builds. Tests run in pytest, Jest and Playwright.
Algorand PythonTypeScriptNext.jsx402USDCFly.ioPlaywrightJul 2024 – Present · Remote
Blockchain Developer · Shufl Labs
Backend and smart-contract work for the Shufl NFT marketplace and the Goanna DAO lending platform. I'm an admin of the Al Goanna and Rand Gallery GitHub organisations.
- Reworked the Goanna lending platform, which now handles over $10,000 in loans a month, and brought its cloud costs down significantly.
- Leading the merge of two old marketplace backends, Shufl (AWS EC2) and RandSwap (App Engine and Firestore), into one Node.js and Express service on PostgreSQL and Redis.
- Each transaction is submitted under a unique key, so a retry can't charge anyone twice. A background reconciler checks stuck transactions against the chain and corrects the records. Three settlement methods (escrow, app call and LogicSig) share one interface, and the service has 300 automated tests.
- I plan the work and AI coding models implement it. I review each module's architecture before it's ported and again afterwards.
- Found an encryption key hardcoded in the old code, with its IV reused. The new service keeps no keys in code and reads secrets from AWS Secrets Manager.
- Built the Mutant vs Zombies staking game and worked on the Shufl marketplace. Both are live on mainnet.
Node.jsExpressPostgreSQLRedisAWSReactNext.jsPyTealMar 2024 – Present · Nairobi
Backend / Blockchain Developer · MulaStack
A service for buying bitcoin with local currency.
- I work on the backend and the blockchain side of the purchase flow.
BitcoinAug 2022 – Jul 2023 · Kenya
Lead Developer · Safariblocks
Led development of the Jasiri Protocol on Algorand, a micropayments system meant to free up capital locked in real-world assets and commodities.
- Led the build of the Jasiri browser extension and dApp through to Algorand TestNet.
ReachReactAWSApr 2022 – May 2023 · Remote
Blockchain Developer · Reach Platform
Smart contracts in Reach, a language that compiles one program for several blockchains.
- Published a tutorial that deploys the same NFT auction contract to Ethereum and Algorand.
ReachJavaScriptSvelteMay 2022 – Aug 2022 · Kenya
Bancassurance Specialist · KCB Bank Group
Sold insurance products through the bank.
Skills
Languages
- TypeScript
- JavaScript
- Python
- SQL
Backend
- Node.js
- Express
- REST APIs
- PostgreSQL
- Redis
- Supabase
- Firebase / Firestore
- Background workers
Digital assets
- Algorand (AlgoKit, Algorand Python, PyTeal)
- Smart contracts
- Reach
- x402 payments
- USDC settlement
- Escrow and LogicSig flows
- Lending protocols
Digital health
- HL7 FHIR
- WHO SMART Guidelines
- Digital Adaptation Kits (DAK)
- BPMN
- ICD-11 / LOINC
Frontend & apps
- React
- Next.js
- Tailwind CSS
- Svelte
- React Native / Expo
- Electron
Cloud & delivery
- AWS (EC2, Amplify, Secrets Manager)
- Vercel
- Fly.io
- Google App Engine
- Docker
- GitHub Actions
Testing
- Jest
- Playwright
- pytest
- Integration tests
- Architecture reviews
AI tooling
- LLM extraction pipelines
- Claude Code and agent skills
- Multi-agent workflows
- Knowledge graphs
My Work
Other Projects
Health records, lending maths, payment tools and a few AI experiments.
2025 – 2026
Kenya Renal Registry
A national registry for kidney patients, with clinical decision support based on WHO SMART Guidelines. Web (Next.js), mobile (Expo) and desktop (Electron) apps share an AWS Amplify backend. Diagnoses and lab results are coded in ICD-11 and LOINC so they map onto FHIR.
- Next.js
- React Native
- Electron
- AWS Amplify
- FHIR
2026
Kidney guidelines to WHO SMART
Turning the Kenya National Kidney Guidelines 2026 into a WHO SMART Digital Adaptation Kit, the structured form a guideline takes before it becomes software. I wrote a 17-part method guide and a tool that traces each WHO rule back to the document it came from. An AI-assisted pipeline pulls decision tables and care pathways out of each chapter for review against the source.
- Python
- LLM pipelines
- WHO SMART
- BPMN
- FHIR
2025
DEFI-P2P
Peer-to-peer lending on Algorand, which I built on my own: AlgoKit contracts, a Next.js frontend and Supabase, with CI that deploys the contracts to TestNet. Asset details that rarely change are cached separately from live balances, and requests are queued by priority so the dashboard loads what's on screen first.
- AlgoKit
- TypeScript
- Next.js
- Supabase
2025
Table Banking model
A white paper on the maths behind chamas, Kenya's community savings-and-credit groups. It sets rules for how much each member can borrow and how profit is shared (30% by savings, 70% by interest paid). I tested the model in Python against one group's real ledger.
- Python
- Financial modelling
- Data validation
2025
Algox402 SDK
An SDK for paying per request with x402 on Algorand. It covers the buyer, seller and facilitator roles and includes Express middleware with PostgreSQL storage.
- Node.js
- Express
- PostgreSQL
- Algorand
2022 – 2023
SmartSeat Ticketing
NFT event tickets on Algorand, which I built with one other engineer.
- JavaScript
- Python
- Algorand
2026
Digital Health Ecosystem Explorer
An interactive version of WHO's diagram of the digital health ecosystem. It shows health workers and developers where a Digital Adaptation Kit fits.
- Next.js 14
- TypeScript
2026
Research-to-Skill Generator
Turns research notes into Agent Skills that Claude Code, Codex and GitHub Copilot can all load, with a small validator that needs no dependencies.
- Python
- Agent Skills
I administer or contribute to these GitHub organisations: Al-Goanna, RandGallery, defip2p, SmartSeatTicketing, Shufl-Labs, Algorand-Developer-Retreat.
Contact
I'm looking for senior backend work in digital assets or digital health, remote or in Nairobi. I also take on contract work for payment, lending and health-data systems.
Email me at melvinwafula@gmail.com or download my CV.