Money in. Money out.
Both free.
You're verified. Last step is getting USDC into your wallet so you can bid on loads or post them. It takes about two minutes and costs nothing.
What it actually costs: $0.00
DecentralFreight is an approved Coinbase on-ramp and off-ramp partner, so buying USDC with your bank account or debit card carries no Coinbase fee and no network fee. Cashing back out to your bank runs the same flow in reverse, also free.
Step 1
Get USDC into your wallet
Three ways in. The first one is right for almost everybody.
Add Funds, right in the app
Buy USDC with your bank account, debit card, or Apple Pay without leaving DecentralFreight.
Just send it over on Base
No need to buy again. In the app, open the Wallet tab and tap Receive — you'll get a QR code and your address. Send USDC to it on the Base network from any wallet or exchange and it shows up in seconds.
Buy on Coinbase or Kraken, withdraw to Base
This used to be the cheap route. Now that the in-app buy is free, it's mostly for people who already keep an exchange account and prefer to work there.
Step 2 — the part nobody else offers
Getting paid out to your bank
This is the piece that replaces your factoring company.
Cash Out — USDC straight to your checking account
Deliver a load on Thursday, and the USDC hits your wallet when the shipper confirms. From there, open the Wallet tab, tap Cash Out, pick your bank, and the dollars are on their way — no Coinbase fee, no network fee.
Factoring your invoices
2–5%
Taken off every single load, forever. On $250k of freight a year, that's $5,000–$12,500 gone.
DecentralFreight
$0
Getting paid costs nothing. Money moves between your bank and your wallet free, both directions.
Step 3
How much do you actually need?
Less than most people expect — and after the first load, usually nothing new at all.
🚚 Carriers
You need 5% of the load rate you plan to bid, plus a few dollars of ETH for gas. Bidding on $1,000 loads? $50 USDC covers the commitment. Targeting $2,500 loads? $125. Add about $5 of ETH — a transaction on Base costs roughly a penny, so that lasts a very long time.
📦 Shippers
Plan on the load rate plus 5% in USDC, plus about $5 of ETH for gas. The 5% deposit is due when you post; the full rate goes into escrow when you accept a bid. So a $1,000 load needs roughly $1,050 available.
You only ever fund once
Carriers: fund $130 once — $125 USDC plus ~$5 of ETH. Bid $2,500 on a load, $125 is escrowed as your commitment. Deliver, and $2,500 lands in your wallet. Your next $2,500 bid takes its $125 straight out of those earnings. You never buy USDC again.
Shippers: the 5% deposit returns every time a delivery settles, so the same capital re-posts load after load. The only new money each load is the rate itself — which you'd be paying a carrier anyway.
Common questions
Anything else?
Who is actually holding my money?
Nobody but you. Your USDC sits in your own wallet on the Base blockchain. When you commit to a load, it moves into the smart contract — code that can only release it when the conditions are met, like a confirmed delivery.
We can't touch it. No bank can freeze it. There's no account for a customer service rep to lock. That's the whole point of building it this way.
Why do I need ETH if everything is priced in USDC?
Every blockchain transaction needs a tiny amount of the network's native currency to pay the validators — that's ETH on Base. It's the equivalent of a stamp.
On Base a transaction costs about a penny, so $5 of ETH covers hundreds of loads. You can buy it in the same Coinbase flow as your USDC, or have someone send you a couple of dollars' worth on Base.
Is USDC going to lose value while I'm holding it?
No. USDC is a stablecoin — every one in circulation is backed 1:1 by cash and short-term US Treasuries held in reserve by Circle, a regulated US company. One USDC is one dollar, today and next Tuesday.
It isn't Bitcoin. There is no chart to watch. It's a dollar that can move in seconds instead of net-45.
How fast do I actually get paid after a delivery?
The shipper confirms delivery and the smart contract releases the USDC to your wallet immediately. If they don't act, it auto-releases 24 hours after delivery regardless — nobody can sit on your money.
From wallet to your bank account is a Cash Out away, and that's free.
What if I sent USDC on the wrong network?
Always select Base when withdrawing or sending. Funds sent on Ethereum mainnet, Polygon, Arbitrum, or Solana will not appear in your DecentralFreight wallet, and depending on the network they may not be recoverable.
If you're unsure, send a small test amount first, or use Add Funds in the app — it always uses the right network automatically.
Still stuck?
Email hello@decentralfreight.com or join the Discord — a real person answers.