The Problem We Were Actually Solving
When I started working on a platform for selling digital downloads, I thought the biggest challenge would be getting the product right. I mean, it's just a collection of files, how hard could it be? But what I quickly realized was that our biggest problem was actually accessing the global market. Our team was based in Iran, where the government has strict restrictions on cryptocurrency usage and international transactions. Getting paid through traditional payment gateways like Stripe or PayPal was out of the question. We were stuck with a product and no way to sell it.
What We Tried First (And Why It Failed)
Our first attempt was to use a non-crypto-based payment gateway that accepted Iranian credit cards. Sounds like a straightforward solution, right? Wrong. The processing fees were astronomical, and the gateway would often freeze our funds for no reason, citing "anti-money laundering" regulations. We lost hundreds of dollars in transaction fees and had to spend weeks disputing the charges. Meanwhile, our customers were left waiting for their orders, which only added to our reputation problems. It was a disaster.
The Architecture Decision
