Real-Time Bidding Engine
A high-performance Node.js bidding engine processes OpenRTB requests in under 80ms, with Kafka streams enabling scalable real-time bid processing and analytics.
Alkimi - Blockchain-Powered DSP Platform
Alkimi Exchange is transforming a $600B+ programmatic advertising industry plagued by opacity, inflated fees, and unverifiable data. Brainspack designed and built Alkimi DSP - the advertiser-facing demand-side platform that puts transparent, on-chain bidding, real-time campaign control, and 100% auditable media spend in the hands of every buyer.
The Problem
Programmatic Advertising Is Broken - and Everyone Knows It
Programmatic advertising automates the buying and selling of digital ad inventory across billions of daily impressions. It powers the revenue model of the modern internet. And it is deeply, systemically broken. Research by ISBA found that only 5% of advertiser spend is fully traceable, with up to 35% consumed by technology intermediaries before a single impression is delivered. Over 95% of impressions cannot be matched between buy-side and sell-side data.
Traditional DSPs sit at one end of a fragmented chain - alongside SSPs, ad exchanges, data management platforms, and verification vendors - each adding fees and each introducing opacity. Advertisers set budgets in their DSP, but have no reliable way to verify how much of that budget reached the publisher, what they actually paid per impression, or whether the inventory was brand-safe and fraud-free.
Alkimi Exchange was built to fix this. By recording every auction, bid, and impression on an immutable blockchain ledger, Alkimi creates a verifiable supply path from advertiser to publisher. Brainspack was the product and engineering partner responsible for building the DSP - the platform advertisers actually use to run campaigns on this revolutionary infrastructure.
The Challenges
Low-Latency Blockchain Bidding
Enabled sub-100ms ad bidding with asynchronous blockchain validation.
Blockchain Analytics Dashboard
Converted on-chain ad data into user-friendly DSP performance metrics.
OpenRTB 2.x Integration
Built OpenRTB-compliant handlers for seamless DSP and SSP interoperability.
$ADS Token Staking Experience
Designed intuitive wallet and staking flows for Web3 and traditional advertisers.
Multi-Format Ad Creative Management
Managed display, video, native, in-app, and DOOH creatives in one system.
Real-Time Verified Campaign Analytics
Combined live bidding data with blockchain verification for trusted reporting.
Technologies Used
A DSP Built for the Next Era of Programmatic Advertising
Brainspack architected Alkimi DSP as a layered product: a real-time bidding engine for low-latency auction participation, a campaign management layer for advertisers to control targeting and budgets, a blockchain bridge for on-chain audit recording, and an analytics surface that makes all of this intelligible without a PhD in distributed systems.
Campaign Management Dashboard
A React.js campaign dashboard enables advertisers to manage budgets, bidding, scheduling, and creatives across multiple ad formats from a single interface.
Blockchain Audit Bridge (Sui)
Confirmed auction data is securely recorded on the Sui blockchain, enabling transparent campaign reporting with cryptographic verification.
Blockchain-Verified Analytics
A dual-source analytics system combines real-time campaign metrics with blockchain-verified reporting for transparent ad performance tracking.
Audience Targeting & Segmentation
Advanced audience targeting supports geography, devices, browsers, contextual keywords, and private marketplace deals with OpenRTB-based on-chain verification.
$ADS Token Staking & Fee Management
An integrated wallet system lets advertisers stake $ADS tokens to unlock reduced platform fees with real-time savings visibility.
Measurable Impact
Alkimi delivered measurable improvements in advertising transparency, campaign efficiency, bidding speed, and media performance through blockchain-powered programmatic infrastructure and low-fee DSP architecture.
1.5%
Minimum Platform Fee (vs 35%)
<80ms
Bid Response Latency
5+
Ad Formats Supported
Quality Outcomes
Transparent On-Chain Ad Reporting
Advertisers can track every impression with blockchain-verified campaign transparency.
Lower CPM, Higher Reach
Reduced advertising costs significantly, enabling wider audience reach with the same budget.
Improved Campaign Performance
Delivered higher video completion rates through cleaner and premium ad inventory.
Seamless OpenRTB Compatibility
Enabled easy integration with existing DSP and SSP workflows through full OpenRTB 2.x compliance.
Scalable Web3 Advertising Infrastructure
Built a high-performance blockchain-powered DSP capable of handling large-scale real-time programmatic advertising.
Discovery & DSP Architecture
Defined the blockchain-powered DSP architecture, bidding engine, and audit workflow.
OpenRTB Bidding Engine
Built a high-speed Node.js bidding service with OpenRTB 2.x support and Kafka streaming.
Campaign Management Dashboard
Developed a React.js dashboard for campaign setup, targeting, creatives, and budget controls.
How We Built Alkimi
Blockchain Audit & Sui Integration
Integrated Sui blockchain verification for transparent on-chain ad reporting.
Product Launch & Delivery
Successfully delivered and launched the blockchain-powered DSP platform with end-to-end testing.
$ADS Wallet & Cloud Deployment
Integrated Sui wallet staking and deployed the DSP infrastructure on AWS.
Real-Time Analytics & Reporting
Built live campaign analytics with blockchain-verified reporting and audit trails.
What Makes Alkimi DSP Unique
The Only DSP with On-Chain Impression Proof
Every impression served through Alkimi DSP has a corresponding on-chain record on the Sui blockchain. Advertisers aren't trusting a reporting dashboard - they're trusting an immutable, cryptographically signed ledger no intermediary can alter.
1.5% Platform Fees - Not 35%
By eliminating unnecessary intermediaries and building on a decentralised exchange model, Alkimi DSP delivers fees up to 23× lower than the industry average - with $ADS token staking reducing costs further for active buyers.
OpenRTB-Compatible Web3 Infrastructure
Alkimi DSP is not an island. Full OpenRTB 2.x compliance means it plugs into any existing programmatic supply path - advertisers get blockchain transparency without abandoning their current media-buying workflows or trading relationships.
Real-Time + Verified Analytics in One Dashboard
The dual-source analytics architecture gives advertisers the speed they need for campaign optimisation and the verified certainty they need for client reporting - without switching between a live tool and a separate audit system.
Token Economics Built into the Buying Workflow
The $ADS staking mechanism is integrated directly into the campaign management workflow - not hidden in a separate Web3 portal. Advertisers see their fee rate, their staked balance, and their monthly savings on the same screen as their campaigns.
Built for Scale from Day One
Apache Kafka event streaming, AWS ECS with Kubernetes orchestration, and Redis caching were chosen specifically for their ability to handle the billions of daily bid requests that global programmatic scale demands - not as afterthoughts.
Project Screenshots
Brainspack took our vision for a transparent, blockchain-verified DSP and turned it into a product that advertisers can actually use without a technical background. The bidding engine handles the scale we need, the analytics dashboard makes the blockchain data human, and the $ADS staking UX is the first we've seen that works for both Web3 natives and traditional media buyers. This is exactly what the industry needed.
Co-Founder, Alkimi Exchange
World's First Decentralised Programmatic Ad Exchange - London
Common Questions About This Project
Alkimi DSP is the buyer-facing demand-side platform for Alkimi Exchange - the world's first decentralised programmatic advertising exchange built on the Sui blockchain. Brainspack designed and engineered the complete DSP application: the campaign management interface, real-time bidding dashboard, blockchain-verified analytics, creative management system, audience targeting controls, and the OpenRTB integration connecting advertisers to Alkimi's decentralised exchange.
Traditional programmatic advertising suffers from extreme opacity - ISBA research shows only 5% of ad spend is fully transparent, with up to 35% consumed by intermediary technology fees. A blockchain-based DSP solves this by recording every ad auction, impression, and transaction on an immutable on-chain ledger. Advertisers can trace every penny of their budget from bidding through to publisher delivery, eliminating hidden fees, ad fraud, and unverifiable reporting.
Alkimi DSP is built on the OpenRTB 2.x standard, making it interoperable with any supply-side platform or ad exchange in the industry. Bid requests flow from publishers through Alkimi Exchange's blockchain-validated auction infrastructure, where the DSP evaluates inventory against advertiser targeting parameters and submits bids within 80ms. Each auction result is recorded on the Sui blockchain via Alkimi's validator network. Apache Kafka handles bid event streaming at scale, decoupled from the real-time bidding path.
Traditional programmatic advertising chains involve multiple intermediaries - DSPs, SSPs, ad exchanges, data management platforms, and verification vendors - each taking a cut. Alkimi eliminates unnecessary intermediaries by using a decentralised blockchain exchange that directly connects buyers and sellers. The $ADS token mechanism allows advertisers to stake tokens to further reduce platform fees. Brainspack built the staking module directly into the DSP interface so the fee reduction is transparent and immediate.
Alkimi DSP supports display banner advertising, video (with programmatic video completion tracking), native advertising, in-app advertising, and programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH). The platform is designed to expand into Connected TV (CTV) formats. All formats are available across open marketplace and private marketplace deal structures, with each impression verified on-chain via the Ads Explorer.
Yes. Brainspack has deep expertise in programmatic advertising technology, OpenRTB integration, real-time bidding systems, blockchain-based audit trails, and complex analytics dashboards. If you are building a demand-side platform, supply-side platform, ad exchange, or adtech SaaS product and need a development partner, Brainspack can design and deliver production-ready systems from the ground up.
Building an adtech platform, DSP, or blockchain-powered product?
Brainspack builds production-grade programmatic advertising platforms - from OpenRTB bidding engines and campaign management dashboards to blockchain audit layers and analytics infrastructure. We'd love to hear about your project.