Please describe your proposed solution

Our solution tackles the problem faced by developers and project founders in the Cardano ecosystem: the complexity of creating and managing NFT minting independently. Our open-source minting platform, built on three years of extensive experience and success within the Cardano industry, offers a robust and tested foundation that prevents common issues such as double mints, invalid metadata, and incorrect payment processing.

By open-sourcing our minting solution, we will enable these developers and project founders to avoid the costs and lack of customization imposed by current service providers and bypass the steep learning curve and risks associated with building new minting solutions. Our platform adheres to Cardano Improvement Proposals (CIPs) standards and ensures fair transaction ordering, reliable and verbose error handling, proper refunds, and correct mint quantities—common pitfalls for those new to minting.

The solution encompasses a full-stack solution, including a frontend minting portal (NextJS web server), all required CIP-30 integration logic, and a server-side process for transaction processing and submission (also written primarily in TypeScript for maximum portability). It will utilize a configuration that is easy to set up yet flexible enough to handle the most obscure mint approaches, backed by the countless customization requests we’ve received from the hundreds of projects that we have provided services for. By packaging the solution as a full-stack platform, it will allow small projects and solo developers/owners to host their own mints without needing a full team to coordinate the different aspects of a sale.

<u>Who Benefits?</u>

Newcomers to Cardano Development: Gain a reliable, well-documented foundation for NFT projects.

Project Founders: Launch projects faster and more securely, avoiding common technical and compliance pitfalls. Gain the ability to build on top of the foundational solution to create unique and valuable minting experiences for their community.

<u>Unique Aspects of Our Solution:</u>

Full Stack: Many open-source projects target a specific aspect of development, such as wallet connection or server-side minting as standalone libraries. These solutions, while being great contributions, still require developers to piece them together in order to obtain even the most common use-cases. Our feature-first approach abstracts the technology away in an end-to-end package to reduce friction and maximize the ability for project owners to be self-sufficient.

Comprehensive Standards Compliance: Ensures all projects built on our platform follow Cardano’s best practices.

Proven Technology: Built from years of real-world application and feedback within the Cardano ecosystem.

Robust Error Handling and Verbose Logging: A foolproof system that can detect and notify the owner of any invalid setup without having it disrupt the sale or lead to any incorrect processing of funds.

<u>Impact Demonstration:</u>

We will measure our impact through the usage of our platform by new projects, reduction in common minting errors, and feedback from the community. Success stories and case studies will be documented and shared through our regular community updates and workshops. In particular, we are confident that putting this power in the hands of projects will allow them to divert their funds in a more efficient way, unlocking new economic opportunities with never-before-seen margins and maximizing the value that they can deliver to their community.

This initiative not only accelerates project development times but also enhances the overall integrity and user trust in Cardano-based projects. It's crucial for fostering a vibrant, innovative community where technology lowers barriers rather than creating them.

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

Our project will significantly enhance the Cardano ecosystem by democratizing access to NFT minting technology, reducing dependency on costly centralized platforms and promoting a culture of transparency and collaboration. By open-sourcing our advanced minting solution, we empower creators across the globe to launch and manage their NFT projects independently on a secure, scalable, and free platform. This not only drives innovation within the Cardano community but also attracts new users and developers to the platform, strengthening its position in the competitive blockchain space.

We will measure the impact of our project through several key metrics:

1. Adoption Rate: Tracking the number of projects and users adopting our platform.
2. Community Contributions: Monitoring updates and enhancements made by the community to the open-source code.
3. Cost Savings: Calculating the average cost savings for projects using our platform compared to traditional centralized services, as these cost savings are now going directly back to the community in the form of increased project success and contributions.

To ensure wide distribution and engagement, our outputs will consist of:

• A GitHub repository hosting the complete source code
• Comprehensive documentation of how to build, configure, and launch an NFT sale using the platform
• Advice, insights, and guides on the best practices for running an NFT sale, gained from several years of experience doing just that

These efforts will not only showcase the practical benefits of our solution but also reinforce Cardano's reputation as an inclusive and innovative blockchain community.

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?

Yepple has a strong track record of delivering high-quality blockchain solutions spanning all the way back to February 2021. Having successfully managed over 200 projects on the Cardano platform over the past three years, we have not only mastered the technology relevant to this proposal but we have also gained countless invaluable insights into the impact of the minting experience on a community. Our team is composed of seasoned blockchain developers, project managers, and strategists who are deeply knowledgeable about the Cardano ecosystem. This experience positions us uniquely to deliver this project with high levels of expertise, trust, and accountability.

Yepple has deployed many solutions on Cardano (token generation, airdrops, metadata updates, staking, NFT customizers, storefronts, custom dApps) but minting has always been our flagship solution and it represents our highest level of quality and innovation. We are excited to share these tools, which are fundamental to any NFT project building on Cardano, with the community as part of this proposal. We are confident that we can provide sufficient support and guidance to drive adoption of this solution in the pursuit of a less intimidating project launch process for newcomers.

What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Milestone 1: Milestone 1 (Planning &amp; Technical Design):

• Outputs: Scope of work, design, and other associated planning documents for all technical aspects of the proposal. Importantly, this includes documentation on the setup, configurations, and usability from the perspective of our target audience, NFT project owners.
• Acceptance Criteria: The designs and documentation provide a clear preliminary understanding of how a project owner can set up and run their own NFT sale. The documentation elaborates on the solution to all high-level technical requirements in this proposal and aligns with the future milestones of this proposal.
• Evidence: Documentation in a public GitHub repository (alongside the future codebase) detailing the planned method of interacting with the finished product.

Milestone 2: Milestone 2 (MVP Development):

• Outputs: A minimum viable product encompassing every technical feature and all functionality detailed in this proposal. This includes a refactoring of Yepple’s existing codebase to be usable by project owners, as well as additional development for customization, ease of use, and adaptability as an open-source product. Includes a fully-functional demonstration at a website hosted by Yepple.
• Acceptance Criteria: MVP development meets all technical requirements described in this proposal. The demonstration website hosted by Yepple is using the open source codebase and supports minting an NFT through CIP-30 wallet connect.
• Evidence: The GitHub repository codebase and associated demonstration website will serve as evidence of the completed MVP development and its effectiveness as a deployed solution.

Milestone 3: Milestone 3 (Technical Documentation &amp; User Instructions):

• Outputs: Codebase documentation and enhanced user documentation. The codebase documentation will increase the ability for developers to understand and contribute to future versions of the codebase, increasing long-term sustainability. With the MVP in place, the enhanced user documentation will provide project owners with a complete instruction manual for hosting their own NFT sale using the current version of the codebase at this stage.
• Acceptance Criteria: There is sufficient documentation within the code and alongside the GitHub repository to meet open source best practices and assist in the community’s ability to build and iterate on the solution.
• Evidence: The project structure and modules have their purposes all clearly explained in the repository documentation. All critical components of the code have appropriate documentation for classes, methods, and other key logic.

Milestone 4: Milestone 4 (Development Iterations, Community Support, Demonstrations):

• Outputs: Improved setup process with additional tools for ease-of-use, updated project configurations based on community feedback, community support, and finalized examples with at least one Yepple-hosted demonstration with the final codebase.
• Acceptance Criteria: Yepple is available through Discord to accept and respond to all community feedback and questions. Any issues or feature requests mentioned through GitHub or Discord have been documented and considered for feasibility; if feasible within the scope of this proposal, the features were added for an improved experience.
• Evidence: Continued code commits from the Yepple team after delivery of the previous milestone. Responses to GitHub Issues within the repository. A channel in Yepple’s official Discord dedicated to feedback on our open source development where the Yepple team is responsive to questions and comments.

Final Milestone: Milestone 5 (Close-Out Report &amp; Video):

• Outputs: Comprehensive project report detailing the development process, community impact, and future directions. A professional video showcasing the project's journey and final product.
• Acceptance Criteria: The report and video must comprehensively cover all aspects of the project, demonstrating the success and community benefit.
• Evidence: Final project close-out report and a video link shared with the community through Discord, social media, and potentially additional locations.

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Nicholas Fekete - CEO/Management

Jake Shearman - CTO/Fullstack Blockchain Developer

Dominic Monette - Developer/Quality Assurance

Tyler McVety - DevOps/Blockchain Developer

Robert Nuss - Project Management

Campurean Alexandru (Sic) - Marketing

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Design:

Initial planning and technical design, including setup and configuration documentation, aimed at empowering NFT project owners.

Cost: 25k ADA

Development:

Creation of a minimum viable product (MVP) and subsequent iterations based on community feedback, refining our existing solution for ease of use and minimal dependencies.

Cost: 135k ADA

Documentation:

Comprehensive technical documentation and user instructions to ensure community understanding and ease of adaptation for future development.

Cost: 20k ADA

Management:

Ongoing project oversight, including resource allocation, timeline management, and ensuring deliverables meet proposal goals.

Cost: 10k ADA

Marketing &amp; Support:

Engagement initiatives and support mechanisms, including community outreach, promotional activities, and user support via digital platforms.

Cost: 5k ADA

An optional dependency on Cardano API providers, such as BlockFrost, will be available as a substitute for setting up an in-house Cardano Node (a free, open-source application itself). This is needed for basic address scanning and transaction submitting operations, and is not dependent on any specific third party.

How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

Our proposed budget represents exceptional value for money for the Cardano ecosystem, reflecting more than three years of intensive development by our experienced team. The investment of 195k ADA in open-sourcing our minting solution is significantly lower than the industry costs of hiring three skilled developers to build a similar robust, secure, and fully-functional minting platform from scratch. Typically, the costs associated with such extensive software development and testing could exceed several hundred thousand dollars, given the specialized nature of blockchain technology. We are not only offering the Cardano community access to our refined, bulletproof technology but also providing comprehensive documentation. This ensures that even those new to the space can quickly leverage our platform to mint and sell NFTs, thereby enhancing innovation and participation within the Cardano ecosystem. In essence, we are equipping the community with a high-caliber toolset that accelerates development timelines, reduces upfront costs, and fosters greater creativity on the blockchain.