API & Blockchain Development for Investment Company
- API Development Blockchain Web Development
-
Decentralized Finance
+4
- $50,000 to $199,999
- Aug. 2024 - Dec. 2025
- Quality
- 1.5
- Schedule
- 1.0
- Cost
- 0.5
- Willing to Refer
- n/a
"I had no less than four project managers from Peiko, and the results matched: it was absolute chaos."
- Other industries
- Long Beach, California
- 11-50 Employees
- Online Review
- Verified
Peiko provided front- and backend development services for an investment company. The team was responsible for blockchain and smart contract integration and building a browser-based NFT generator.
Although Peiko assigned a full development team, the engagement deteriorated due to several changes within the team. Peiko insisted that the client pay them more to fix some issues that the platform presented, and the team demonstrated no transparency regarding their billing processes. This review is an update by the client company. The original content is located below the new review.
The client submitted this review online.
BACKGROUND
Introduce your business and what you do there.:
We builds trust infrastructure for informal and developing economies, allowing donors, banks, and investors to verify transactions and aid delivery in fragile states where formal financial systems cannot operate. Our platform creates cryptographic audit trails and network-level transaction analysis so that institutions can engage in frontier markets with AML- and compliance-ready transparency, but without displacing local/indigenous systems.
I am the founder and CEO, responsible for developing the platform, securing partnerships with humanitarian and financial stakeholders, and translating field experience in informal economies into a verifiable “Trust-as-a-Service” system that enables compliant aid distribution, remittances, and investment in high-risk environments.
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
What challenge were you trying to address?
The challenge my company addresses is the inability of donors, governments, and investors to verify financial transactions and aid delivery in fragile states that rely on informal value transfer systems (like hawala), creating a trust gap that prevents legitimate funding and investment.
SOLUTION
What was the scope of their involvement and team dynamic?
Peiko assigned a full development team, but the engagement deteriorated due to severe management, technical, and security failures. Between August 2025 and my termination for cause in December 2025, the project cycled through no less than four different project managers, repeatedly disrupting continuity and oversight.
A catastrophic code merge in November 2025 rendered the platform unusable and even reintroduced components I had previously rejected three months prior, revealing a complete lack of version control. Following that failure, Peiko attempted to bill more than $20,000 for remediation work required to fix problems they created. Most concerning, they left personally identifiable information (PII) of at-risk individuals in Afghanistan accessible online without basic safeguards.
The dispute escalated further when Peiko attempted to withhold previously paid deliverables and assert intellectual property claims over work already paid for.
What's the status of this engagement?
Peiko was Terminated for Cause for the following reasons:
--Failing to secure sensitive PII of at-risk persons in Afghanistan which rendered the code unfit for operational use.
--Professional negligence and gross QA failures... and then attempting to bill me full rate for remediation.
--Absent personnel management; namely four project managers rotating through in less than six months. (In two instances, this occurred without any sort of advance notice)
--Unauthorized development and opaque invoicing practices: they attempted to charged me for several development sprints that were never approved, the last of which was invoiced 22 days after it would have ended, had I approved it.
--Bad faith negotiations and unprofessionalism during our period of dispute.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
How did your relationship with your partner evolve?
I terminated them for cause because of a catastrophic merge that took my platform offline for a month, and their insistence that I pay them to fix it. They exhibited gross non-transparency in their billing practices, as well as distinct unprofessionalism in our subsequent dispute.
To echo the previous entry, they have proven to be very agile, but beyond that, they've also demonstrated a high degree of patience and creativity, as the underlying usage of blockchain that this project employs is somewhat counterintuitive in many ways.
In what ways can they improve?
According to LinkedIn, Peiko has lost 42% of their workforce over the last year so clearly I am not the only one have these problems with them: a top to bottom overhaul of the company is required, and they should start with being transparent and engaging with clients rather than hiding behind Estonian law.
What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?
Bring in your own project manager: from August through December 2025, I had no less than four project managers from Peiko, and the results matched: it was absolute chaos during our final months of working together.
Ensure the contract clearly defines authorization for new work and prohibits billing for remediation of contractor-caused failures, because they WILL try to bill you for their mistakes.
If the project involves vulnerable populations or high-risk information, independently verify that basic safeguards and access controls are implemented before any testing or deployment.
UPDATED REVIEW
This review was published on January 29, 2025
CEO, Investment Co
Other industries
Long Beach, California
11-50
Aug 2024 - Ongoing
$50,000 to $199,999
Verified
Project summary
Peiko provides comprehensive front- and backend development services for an investment company. The team has worked on blockchain and smart contract integration and built a browser-based NFT generator.
Feedback summary
Peiko has proven to be agile and capable of delivering a quality product. The team has rapidly accelerated the development of the logistics module so that the client could present a quality MVP to US government stakeholders. The team has been patient and creative, and their agility has stood out.
BACKGROUND
Please describe your company and position.
I am the CEO of an other industries company
Describe what your company does in a single sentence.
Our company addresses the primary barriers to Foreign Direct Investment and humanitarian assistance in fragiles -limited access, trust deficits, and outdated systems - by integrating Web3 technology with off-chain analysis to engage, vet, and de-risk informal economies and logistics networks.
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
What specific goals or objectives did you hire Peiko to accomplish?
- Comprehensive front and back end development
- blockchain and smart contract integration
- Build a browser-based NFT Generator
SOLUTION
How did you find Peiko?
Referral
Why did you select Peiko over others?
- Pricing fit our budget
- Referred to me
How many teammates from Peiko were assigned to this project?
6-10 Employees
Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.
We began with a Discovery Phase, during which Peiko conducted project research and developed key materials such as documentation, backlogs, and user flows. Following this, we collaborated on defining the MVP scope, focusing primarily on a informal value transfer systesm (IVTS) tracking module, and and austere logistics tracking module. Early in the developmental process, a need for a browser-based NFT generator was identified, and Peiko pivoted accordingly.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
All three modules for my project -IVTS tracking, austere logistics tracking, and at-risk immigrant vetting- are all first of their kind, and Peiko has proven to be both agile and capable of delivering a quality product.
When an excellent opportunity arose to showcase my startup's capabilities, Peiko was able to rapidly accelerate development of the logistics module so that I could present a quality MVP to stakeholders in the US Government.
When the 'Enhanced Security Screening for Immigrants' Executive Order was given by the Trump administration, over a period of three days, they were able to modify the logistics module to create an MVP capable of providing accurate and verifiable background data for people currently in conflict zones-- while also remaining on schedule for delivering the core project.
Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?
To echo the previous entry, they have proven to be very agile, but beyond that, they've also demonstrated a high degree of patience and creativity, as the underlying usage of blockchain that this project employs is somewhat counterintuitive in many ways.
What was your primary form of communication with Peiko?
- Virtual Meeting
- Email or Messaging App
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
Peiko's agility and willingness to engage with new concepts impressed us.
Are there any areas for improvement or something Peiko could have done differently?
Not really; timezone differences are obstacles at times, but there's nothing they can do about that.
STAR RATINGS
Overall rating: 5.0
Quality: 5.0
Cost: 5.0
Schedule: 5.0
Willing to refer: 5.0
RATINGS
-
Quality
1.5Service & Deliverables
-
Schedule
1.0On time / deadlines
-
Cost
0.5Value / within estimates
-
Willing to Refer
n/aNPS