CoinDuel
Fantasy Crypto Trading

Real-time market data. Zero real money.
Compete. Prove it. Duel.

Timeline
3 Months
Role
Product Design Engineer
Scope
End-to-End Design & Dev
Platform
iOS & Android

Every screen, designed.

Splash
Splash
Fantasy crypto trading
Onboarding
Onboarding
Zero risk, all skill
Trade
Trade
Real market data
Climb
Climb
Zero risk, all skill
Markets
Markets
Live prices & charts
Live Contest
Live Contest
Real-time scoring
Position
Position
Trade & manage
Leaderboard
Leaderboard
Rank by format
League Play
League Play
Up to 50 players
Chat
Chat
DMs & group messages
Create Contest
Create Contest
Format, mode & rules
Inbox
Inbox
Chats & notifications
Contests
Contests
Active & past games
Settings
Settings
Account & subscription
Figma · React Native · Expo · Supabase · Claude Code · GitHub · Vercel · GA4 + Clarity · Google AdMob · Google Cloud

Product strategy, UX/UI design, design system, full-stack mobile application

01 — 02
The Problem

Everyone has a market opinion. Nobody can prove theirs.

Crypto apps are solo. Real trading risks real money. There's no arena to compete, no scoreboard to settle the debate. Everyone has a take — nobody has receipts.

The Solution

Build your portfolio. Compete. Prove it.

CoinDuel turns market opinions into a competition. Build a portfolio of real coins, compete against friends or strangers using live market data, and let the market decide who was right. The name says everything — a duel. Two people, two portfolios, one winner. Coin. Duel. That's the whole product.

03 — Market Opportunity
Fantasy sports proved competition makes everything more engaging. The same behavior exists in crypto. Crypto apps are built for solo trading. Fantasy apps are built for sports. The intersection — social, competitive, market-driven — doesn't exist yet.

That's the gap CoinDuel fills.

03 — Market Data
A market ready
to be captured.
$37B+
Fantasy sports market size in 2025
14%
Annual market growth rate (CAGR)
60%
Of crypto users are under 35
94%
Of crypto buyers are Gen Z & Millennials
04 — Competitive Analysis
Where every other app
falls short.
DraftKings has the competition and social layer but no crypto. Coinbase has the market data but nothing competitive or social. CoinDuel is the only app at the intersection.
DraftKingsCoinbaseCoinDuel
Real market data
Zero financial risk
Head-to-head competition
League play
Social layer / group chat
ELO ranking
Crypto focused
Year-round gameplay
05 — User Personas
Two players.
One gap.
📊
The Casual Investor
Proof-Driven
"I invest a little, follow the market daily, and have a group chat that never stops. Everyone's calling moonshots and claiming they knew first. Nobody takes each other's advice because everyone thinks they're the smart one."
PainAll talk, no proof. The debate never gets settled.
GoalFinally prove who actually knows what they're doing.
BehaviorChecks portfolio daily, active in group chats, always has the next pick ready.
🏆
The Fantasy Competitor
Competition-Driven
"I've played DraftKings for years. I love the strategy, the leaderboards, the head-to-head. Sports seasons end. I need a new arena."
PainFantasy sports are seasonal. Off-season means nothing to compete in.
GoalYear-round competition with real rankings and bragging rights.
BehaviorPlays daily fantasy, tracks stats obsessively, already understands ELO.
Casual Investor — Journey Map
Fantasy Competitor — Journey Map
BTC+2.40%
ETH-1.20%
SOL+5.80%
DOGE+12.10%
XRP-0.50%
SHIB+25.30%
ADA+3.10%
AVAX-2.80%
BTC+2.40%
ETH-1.20%
SOL+5.80%
DOGE+12.10%
XRP-0.50%
SHIB+25.30%
ADA+3.10%
AVAX-2.80%
06 — Gameplay & Systems
Strategy is the
gameplay.

Game Formats

1v1 against a random opponent or an invited friend. League play in standard public or private contests. Fake money, real market data, one winner.

How You Play

Create a game, build your portfolio with real coins, and trade freely for the duration of the contest. Buy and sell as many times as you want within your allocated budget.

Trading Mechanics

Simple, intuitive, familiar. No game mechanics that don't exist in real trading. The goal is to feel as close to real trading as possible — without the financial risk.

ELO Ranking

Every match adjusts your ELO. Seven tiers from Bronze to Legend. Beat higher-ranked players, climb faster. Drives matchmaking and powers the global leaderboard.

Roadmap

Additional trading mechanics planned post-launch to add deeper strategy without adding complexity. The foundation is intentionally simple — depth comes later.

ELO Ranking System — Logic Diagram
07 — Key Screens
Every screen earns its place
Data-forward interfaces. No clutter. Every element serves the game.
Markets

Markets

Total market cap hero chart with timeframe toggles. Top 100 coins sorted by gainers, losers, or market cap. Search, filter, and bookmark — all above the fold. The home screen is a data dashboard, not a menu.

Live pricesSparkline chartsTimeframe toggles
Contest

Live contest

Auto-zoom score chart tracks you against your opponent in real time. Wallet balance, score, coin positions, and swap action — all on one screen. The countdown timer creates urgency without noise.

Auto-zoom chartLive scoring1-tap trades
Position

Position detail

Average cost, current value, percent change, and point value — the math is done for you. Trade directly from the same screen. No navigation required to take action on a position.

Credit trackingPoint calculationTrade action
Leaderboard

Leaderboard

Rankings filtered by format, mode, and season. Top 3 players highlighted with avatar cards. Your rank pinned at the bottom so you always see where you stand relative to the best.

Format filtersRank badgesPersistent self-rank
League

League play

Up to 50 players in a single contest. Score comparison chart, live standings table, and your full portfolio. Player tabs let you switch between your view and your competitors'.

50 player roomsLive standingsPlayer tabs
08 — Design System & Information Architecture
Consistent. Scalable.
Reusable.
No redline handoff. No translation layer. Components built once, used everywhere. Design infrastructure first, so everything downstream moves faster.

Components

Coin list items with sparkline charts, contest cards with live countdowns, rank cards with tier badges, position detail rows, wallet/score stat blocks, standings tables, format pills (1V1, LGE, PVT).

Patterns

Dropdown filters, search bars, dual-action button pairs reused across contexts. Contextual action button in the top right of every screen. Back navigation always returns to the tab root.

Visual Language

Black, white, green. Gray containers. Minimal palette, consistent type hierarchy. No gradients, no shadows, no 3D. Flat, calm, data-forward.

📈

Market

Top 100 coins. Real-time prices, charts, sorting. Bookmarks top right.

🏆

Leaderboard

Rankings by format — daily, weekly, season. Friends list top right.

Contests

Central hub. Create, track, review. Enlarged active state. Rules top right.

💬

Inbox

DMs and league group chats. Notifications top right.

👤

Account

Profile, settings, subscription. Settings top right.

09 — Sketch to Final
Every screen went through
assumptions before testing.
Contest Creation — UX Flow
Without a traditional wireframe phase, the thinking happened before the build — through flow diagrams, journey mapping, and clearly defined specs. Claude Code received well-defined requirements and built from them directly. The contest creation flow required no major UI iteration. The UX flow was detailed enough that the first build matched the intended experience. Getting the logic right before touching the UI meant no costly redesigns after.
10 — Monetization Design
Same game.
More access.
Free Tier

Core gameplay, ad-supported

Access to top 100 coins. Live market data. Ad placements between contests — never mid-gameplay.

Pro — TBD

More access. No limits.

Expanded coin access. Unlimited simultaneous games. Ad-free experience. Details finalized post-beta.

11 — Visual Design & Brand
Four colors.
Zero noise.
Black #000000
White #FFFFFF
Green #00C805
Red #FF5000

Black, white, and green. No gradients, no shadows, no 3D. The visual language is intentionally restrained so data and gameplay take center stage. Syne for headlines — bold, geometric, competitive. Space Mono for everything else — technical, precise, data-ready.

12 — Technical Architecture
One codebase.
Two platforms.
Frontend

React Native + Expo

Single codebase for iOS and Android. Expo Router for file-based navigation. Zustand for state management with persist middleware.

Backend

Supabase

Handles authentication, player profiles, ELO ratings, contest data, and real-time score tracking. Row-level security for data isolation.

Market Data

CoinGecko API

Real-time coin pricing, market data, and chart data. Cached locally with rate-limit handling for performance.

Monetization

Google AdMob

Banner and rewarded ad placements. Ad revenue as the primary free-tier monetization model.

Payments

Stripe

Premium subscription management. Handles upgrade flows and billing for the paid tier.

Infrastructure

Google Cloud

Backend services, edge functions, and scheduled jobs for price updates and tier calculations.

13 — Testing & Iteration
Validated before
it shipped.
Every core mechanic was tested with real users before launch. The product changed significantly between first build and final version — driven by feedback, not assumption.

Early Concept Testing

Showed wireframe flows to 10 potential users — a mix of crypto traders and fantasy sports players. The fantasy crypto concept landed immediately. Zero confusion on the core idea.

Adding Coin News

User research revealed players wanted to make informed trading decisions without leaving the app. Added aggregated coin news with an in-app browser so users can research before making a move.

The Biggest Pivot

Removing the Draft

The draft mechanic never made it to UI. During early concept conversations with potential users, explaining the draft flow consistently caused confusion. When the same explanation fails repeatedly, that's the signal — the concept itself is the problem, not the explanation. The decision was made before a single screen was designed. Free portfolio trading replaced it entirely.

Simplification

Removing the Boost Mechanic

Early versions included a boost multiplier to amplify gains. Testing showed it wasn't intuitive and didn't map to any real trading mental model. It was cut entirely. Spot trading is universally understood — the simpler mental model won.

Boost mechanic before and after

What Worked

ELO ranking motivated competitive players to keep playing — tier progression became a game within the game. Friend-group framing was the strongest acquisition hook in testing.

Closed Beta

12 users. Bug validation and stability testing before expanding the pool.

14 — AI-Assisted Development
A solo build — iterated
with real users
Thorough product design and strategy upfront meant less back and forth during development. Clear references, correct semantics, and well-defined requirements allowed Claude Code to build features with minimal revisions. When beta feedback required changes, the PRD-first approach made iteration fast — specs were updated, Claude rebuilt the affected components, and the cycle continued.
01

Product Strategy

Define the problem, market positioning, game mechanics, scoring formula, and monetization before touching any tools.

02

Design System

Build the component library, design tokens, and screen patterns in Figma. Every decision documented with rationale.

03

AI-Assisted Build

Claude Code receives well-defined specs with correct semantics. MCP connects Figma directly to production. No drift between design and code.

04

Ship

Test, iterate, deploy. The design thinking done upfront is why a solo build ships in weeks, not months.

15 — Outcomes & Next Steps
Status and roadmap.
Beta
Final beta testing stage
3mo
Solo build timeline
12
Beta testers actively playing
1
Person. End-to-end.

Next Steps

Finalizing live market data integration and validating 1v1 and league play at scale before production. Public launch after beta confirms retention and engagement metrics. Additional trading mechanics planned post-launch to add deeper strategy. A deliberate launch — not a premature one.

Try CoinDuel

Fantasy crypto trading powered by real-time market data. Compete. Prove it. Duel.