Most crypto needs a connection. When the signal drops, the payment waits. Night markets, ferries, metro tunnels and blackout zones all run into this problem.
Zoi Network takes a different route. This guide explains how offline crypto payments work, how the rewards run and what is planned next. The details come from the official website and the whitepaper.
Key Takeaways
Zoi moves payments from phone to phone over Bluetooth, then settles them on-chain once any phone on the path gets online.
The app is free, and users earn ZOI by staying synced and inviting friends.
Only the app is live today. Offline payments with real ZOI are planned in phases, and the dates are targets, not promises.
Zoi turns ordinary phones into a crypto network that does not need the internet. The phones talk directly to each other, much like wireless earbuds connect to a handset.
The whitepaper describes it as an offline-first payment network. Its thesis is short: accepted offline, settled on-chain.
This is the same model that cash, cheques and card terminals have used for decades. Acceptance is instant, trust is priced in between, and final settlement comes later.
Source: official website.
Most crypto assumes the sender is online. Zoi assumes the opposite and designs from there.
The whitepaper calls its target “the places the signal forgets.” That includes night markets, metro tunnels, festival grounds, ferries, border towns, blackouts and disaster zones. In these spots, crypto without internet is the whole point rather than a bonus feature.
A payment that waits for a signal is a payment that can fail at the worst moment. Zoi aims to remove that wait.
A sender’s phone signs a digital note and hands it to a nearby phone over Bluetooth. The note keeps hopping from phone to phone until one of them reaches the internet. At that moment, the transfer locks in on the blockchain for good.
Bluetooth crypto payments rely on bearer notes. These are signed digital banknotes, and a phone can verify one with no connection at all.
Step | What happens |
1 | The sender’s phone signs a bearer note |
2 | The note passes to a nearby phone over Bluetooth |
3 | The receiver checks the signature and trust level, then accepts offline |
4 | Any phone on the path that gets online carries the note onward |
5 | The settlement chain finalises one spend per note |
Before accepting, the receiver also sees a trust score. A system called the trust ladder tells the receiver how sure the payment is and how much to accept.
The whitepaper splits the system into seven layers.
Layer | Role |
Zoi App | Wallet, sync, referrals and the payment interface |
Bearer Notes | Signed digital banknotes verified without a connection |
Mesh and Relays | Bluetooth between phones, public relays for the rest of the path |
Witnesses | Phones and certified payment points that stamp the transfers they see |
Trust Ladder | Shows how sure a payment is before the receiver accepts |
Settlement Chain | Finalises spends, turns double-spends into proofs, pays contributors |
ZOI | The single token used for notes and rewards |
Witnesses carry weight based on their credentials and history, so a long-standing witness counts for more than a new one.
The Zoi app is the first product and the way the project reaches phones. It handles the wallet, daily sync, referrals and the payment interface.
The ZOI token is the only token in the system. Notes are denominated in it, and it also serves as the reward unit for verifiable work.
Earning starts with being part of the network. Inside the app, users can earn ZOI rewards from day one by syncing daily and inviting friends. Keeping a running streak adds to that habit, and the streak and referral system sits at the center of the app.
When | How ZOI is earned |
Now | Daily sync, keeping a streak, inviting friends |
Later | Carrying transfers for people nearby |
Every phone that joins makes the network stronger, and the network pays that phone back in ZOI.
The official whitepaper names two readers. The first is the phone owner who wants to know what Zoi does and how it earns. The short pages at the top of each whitepaper section are written for that person.
The second is the engineer or crypto-native reader who wants the mechanism. The pages on notes, witnesses, fraud proofs and the chain go deeper for that audience.
Every transfer is digitally signed by the sender’s wallet, so nobody can fake or change it. If someone tries to spend the same crypto twice, the network catches it automatically and the cheater loses.
The project also deals with fake accounts. When someone runs a farm of bots, every account in it is closed and the rewards are taken back. According to the site, 2,473 fake accounts have been removed so far and 2,541 ZOI has been recovered. Each case is listed without names on the fair play page.
The planned Zoi crypto wallet is meant to keep ZOI in the user’s own hands, which fits the idea of a self-custody wallet. Since the project is still early, readers should go through the whitepaper before acting on any claim.

The product lineup is staged over several periods.
Period | Product | Status |
Live now | Zoi App | Live |
Q4 2026 | Handshake, ZMesh Map, Zoi Lab | In progress |
Q1 2027 | ZMesh (chat and SOS), Zoi Wallet | Planned |
Q2 2027 | Zoi Send | Planned |
H2 2027 | Zoi Offline, with real ZOI and low limits first | Planned |
Further out | Beacon, Card, Pay, ID, SDK, Chain | Planned |
Zoi Lab lets users send test tokens over Bluetooth. These tokens have no value and never become ZOI.
Final Word
Zoi tries to solve a simple problem: payments should not stop when the signal does. Right now the app is the live piece, while offline payments with real ZOI are still being built. Anyone curious about the technical side can read the full whitepaper.
Disclaimer:This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Crypto participation involves risk.