[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf-eNPOcN6k>What's the problem?
One of the most important aspects to a DeFi ecosystem is access to liquidity. By growing liquidity on-chain, more and more users will be incentivized to engage with the ecosystem, creating a positive feed-back loop that grows the total engagement on the Cardano Blockchain.
DeFi and liquidity farming contain multiple barriers of entry to new and experienced users that make it more difficult to engage with liquidity provision. These include factors such as impermanence risk, portfolio management and hard to decipher language and systems. By building an Auto-Harvester to manage these advanced ideas, we intend on simplifying the learning and engagement process for a user to provide liquidity to the Cardano ecosystem.
There also exists a problem with a slowdown in the blockchain when we are at high capacity. This results in slower transactions overall for users, creating a negative experience. There are many possible L2 (layer 2) solutions to this problem, but one approach is to aggregate transaction on the L1 (layer one) chain, to reduce the total transaction burden across the entire network.
What is an Auto-Harvester?
An auto-harvester is a tool for users that will allow for easier portfolio management in Cardano DeFi. It will allow users to liquidity farm across multiple protocols on the Cardano blockchain, by just selecting a strategy, and then conducting a single transaction to deposit their Cardano or VyFinance tokens to that strategy. It can be thought of as an Index Fund for LP tokens of projects from different areas of the Cardano Ecosystem.
Who are Auto-harvesters for?
The Auto-Harvester is for everyone in the Cardano ecosystem. For new users, the auto-harvester simplifies the process of liquidity farming, users will be able to engage with multiple liquidity pools with a single transaction. Experienced users will be able to find strategies that are applicable to them, and then automate portions of their portfolio to reduce their portfolio management burden.
What is the Possible Impact?
The best way to gauge our possible impact is to look at existing Auto-Harvesters on other blockchains. As an example, let's look at Yearn. The current TVL (as of 11/29) is $340,650,000. This makes it the 15th most staked protocol on Ethereum alone, and shows that there is a clear value to the service for users to engage.
Beefyswap, another Auto-Harvester, currently holds a TVL (as of 11/29) of $167,350,000 USD. Both of these systems hold more liquidity than the entirety of the Cardano DeFi ecosystem.
[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community.
The Auto-Harvester provides users with the ability to easily engage with Cardano DeFi and removes multiple barriers & challenges associated with liquidity farming. Instead of managing impermanence risk and portfolio management to optimize yield, users can simply select a risk level, strategy and engage in liquidity farming across multiple protocols in one transaction.
Furthermore, By conducting liquidity transactions in bulk on behalf of the entire Auto-Harvester, we will also be able to reduce total transaction burden on chain. As a single transaction of our Auto-Harvester, will be equivalent to performing that transaction for multiple users simultaneously. That way, we can reduce congestion across the whole chain.
[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?
Platform
We’ve been in the ecosystem for over two years. We have already delivered a unique suite of products for the ecosystem (Our DEx, our distributive BAR, first on-chain lottery, and our Vaults), and continued to build and innovate within the Cardano ecosystem. We are confident with our track record and that we have the capability to deliver the Auto Harvester.
Funds
We are a registered business in Australia, with our registration under International Markets, ABN: 84 649 719 433
Abn lookup: https://abr.business.gov.au/ABN/View?abn=84649719433
The Funds (wallets) used for the development of the Auto Harvester will be public and transparent. We intend on using these funds in a transparent manner that will be auditable on chain.
Project Visibility
The VyFinance team has attended (and will continue to attend) each major Cardano event in the community, including Rare Bloom 2022, CNFTcon 2022, Rare Evo 2023, NFTxLV 2023, Cardano Summit 2022 & the Cardano Summit 2023. Here we have been able to build confidence with the community and create relationships with many projects and leading
[Project Milestones] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?
<u>On-Chain Code</u>
This includes the smart contracts and data handling required on chain. This is the core of the product, and will provide the primary utilities of the auto-harvester.
To verify the milestone has been achieved we will be releasing a monthly review (we currently have a monthly update that will provide status checks on the Catalyst Milestones), which will culminate in our Test-Net.
><u>Off-Chain code</u>
This involves many crucial aspects of the product. Including, but not limited to: direct interactions with our on-chain code, data query servers, data based handling and transaction construction.
The principal deliverable will be testnet, where our off-chain code will be working synchronously to achieve the final product.
To verify the milestone has been achieved we will be releasing a monthly review (we currently have a monthly update that will provide status checks on the Catalyst Milestones), which will culminate in our Test-Net.
><u>Frontend Application/UI </u>
This is a crucial part and gateway for users to interact with the product/protocol. The purpose of the Auto-Harvester is to simplify and on-board new users, our UI will have to reflect that vision.
We are aware of users expectations and needs due to our previous experience. We are confident our Auto-Harvester will be easy to use and simple to follow for users of all experience levels.
To verify the milestone has been achieved, we will release (alongside monthly updates of our Catalyst progress) footage and on-going samples of development. which will culminate in our Test-Net.
><u>Test-net</u>
<u><span class="ql-cursor"></span></u>
Once the first two milestones have been completed, we will be able to launch our test-net. Users will be able to engage with the product and we will be able to test the functionalities of the system.
The success of this milestone will be user feedback, which will allow us to optimize prior to launch.
To verify the milestone has been achieved, the launch of our Test-net will be open to the public and able to be evaluated by the wider community.
><u>Audit</u>
The audit is crucial for ensuring the safety of the smart contracts prior to launch. It is essential that users are safe and secure when engaging with our platform/products. An audit of the Auto-Harvester ensures for the public utility of these smart contracts.
To verify the milestone has been achieved, we will be publicly releasing the findings of our Audit.
><u>Final Project Completion Report</u>
We will release regular updates about the progress of the product through Medium. We currently release a monthly update to engage the community in the process/progress of these new products. This will include technical reports, alongside more general product updates.
We also have a Trello. Where live progress of current tasks can be viewed. This is available at all times.
<u>Video</u>
We regularly engage with the Cardano community, and have partaken in over 150 videos that can be found on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@VyFinance). We will continue releasing/publishing content regarding the auto-harvester through until launch. We will continue to share our progress with our community through the various social media platforms.
To verify the video goals have been achieved, we will publish a monthly video on our YouTube channel detailing the progress we have made and what is coming up in development.
To verify the milestone has been achieved, we will publish regular updates about the progress of the Auto-Harvester through Medium as well as visible progress on our Trello. A final report on the Auto Harvester will also be provided for the Catalyst community.
[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?
Steven Ward - CEO
Dylan McCoy - COO
Deann Zois - CMO
Ryan Felt - CTO
Jon Hendrickson - CRO
Nick Cappiello - CCO
[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.
The funds we have applied for will cover a portion of the cost in development, not the entire production.
[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?
By allowing easier access to liquidity provision for users, we will be able to boost the total liquidity available on-chain, and thus grow the entire ecosystem. Liquidity is the largest barrier to DeFi on the Cardano Blockchain currently, and this product will allow a streamlined mechanism for integration of liquidity strategies on-chain.