Open Source Snapshotter

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

Snapshots are required for several reasons. Some of these cases are:

Whitelist holders of an NFT from a specific PolicyID
Airdrop rewards to holders of an NFT from a specific PolicyID
Identify all members of a project for the purposes of allowing voting
Analyze the movement of assets from one wallet to the next for a specific PolicyID
etc.

While building on Cardano, we have needed to take snapshots for a wide variety of reasons. Creating an open source solution for generating snapshots will allow the Cardano community to be less dependent on the limited number of builders who are taking snapshots on a regular basis. This is especially important in cases where snapshots are only needed for a short period of time (like a specific event). With open source snapshotter code, an individual can take a snapshot to satisfy his/her immediate needs and then tear down any required infrastructure without relying on a 3rd party.

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

This open source snapshot tool will bring the ability for anyone to create snapshots and not rely on the limited development resources of builders within the space. This directly addresses the challenge and making it easier to build on Cardano. It also helps people new to Cardano by providing free tools that they can use to get their projects off the ground faster.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

The success of this project will be measured by the number of people who use the snapshotter code.

We will create a github repo with the code and relevant documentation. We will also leverage Canucks Publishing and Voteaire social channels to disseminate information.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

We currently use a shapshotter for the operation of Voteaire for on-chain voting. We have also implemented a snapshotter for NFT/FT staking solutions built for Cardano projects. We are very familiar with the technical requirements of this project and the benefit it will bring the entire community.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

The goals of the project are:

create a tool that people can use to generate snapshots based on PolicyID
open source the tool so that people can leverage the code for their own projects
increase the adoption of Cardano by providing tooling for newcomers

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

The project breakdown is as follows:

Planning
Kickoff
Resource planning and allocation
Architecture/planning - best way to create an open source version of snapshot code that we've already developed
Create a github repo
Project setup (epics/stories/etc.)
Development
Setup of development environment
Creation of snapshotter code
Documentation
Testing - needs to be robust if we are open-sourcing it
Deployment
Final commit to the github repo
Finalization of documentation
POC - video of working code

Overall timing is approximately 3 months.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

The deliverables will be as follows:

Planning - DELIVERABLE: project plan
Development - DELIVERABLE: codebase for snapshotter
Deployment - DELIVERABLE: documentation, video of working code

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Budget breakdown is as follows (in USD):

Planning - $3,600
Development - $9,900
Deployment - $2,700

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

MSVN Distributed Systems consists of the following full-time individuals, as well as additional contractors whom we bring on as required to accelerate efforts

Michael Stewart - CTO

18+ years of software development and architecture experience.
Member of the Cardano community since 2017
Co-Founder of MSVN (Canucks Publishing, Voteaire.io)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/codefly/

Vivek Nankissoor - CEO

15+ years of experience in database requirements, design, and development
Established and grew web analytics, marketing automation, and QA practices
Co-Founder of MSVN (Canucks Publishing, Voteaire.io)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/viveknankissoor/

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

Snapshots are required by every NFT project that wants the addresses for every holder as a minimum use case. For builders, the more complex the DApp, the more likely a snapshotter is required.

As such the value could be reflected in this way:

150 NFT projects out there and perhaps another 100 projects that would need a snapshotter
Approximately 20hrs to implement a rudimentary snapshotter
This would require the skillset of someone who would charge a rate of: $95 USD/hr
This would cost a total of ~$475,000 USD if each project had to put the resources toward creating their own snapshotter. That is the minimum amount saved by producing an open source solution to handle snapshots.

bookmarked!